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I'
*\H\SCWS Of
nniap of fliiancbester, 1830,
Mahchestir Fifty Yurs hm:
BY J. T. SLUGG.
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REMINISCENCES
OF
MANCHESTER
FIFTY YEARS AGO.
BY
J. T. SLUGG, F.R.A.S.,
\
AUTHOR OP "THB STARS AND THE TBLBSCOPB,"
AND "introduction TO OBSERVATIONAL ASTRONOMY."
MANCHESTER:
J. E. CORNISH, 33, PICCADILLY, and i6, ST. ANN'S SQUARE.
LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & Co.
I 8 8 I .
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THB SEW TOM
PTIBLTC IIBRABY
285753B
AWOU, UMOX AND
JIUJBH rOONDAXlOSS
R 1944 '
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'^
DEDICATED TO
J. H. NODAL, Esq.,
EDITOR OP THE "MANCHESTER CITY NEWS,"
THROUGH WHOSE KINDNESS
THESE REMINISCENCES
FIRST APPEARED
IN THE COLUMNS OF THAT JOURNAL.
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PREFACE.
T^HE present volume of Reminiscences is intended to
convey an approximate idea of the Manchester of
Fifty Years Ago — of its outward aspect, its trade, customs,
manners, and society, and its form of government some
years before it obtained its Charter of Incorporation, and
long before it attained to the dignity of a city.
If justification were needed for its publication, it will be
found in the wide interest which its contents excited as
they appeared in the columns of the Manchester City News.
Such a step as their appearance in book form was the
farthest thing imaginable from the mind of the author when
he sent his first chapter to the editor of that journal, his
expectation then being that all he had to say would be
completed in some half-dozen or dozen chapters. As he
proceeded, however, his work grew under his hand, a
result which was fostered by a classification of the subjects.
The area covered by the numerous topics handled
being large, it was impossible to avoid an occasional
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PREFACE.
mistake. These errors were pointed out in most cases by
correspondents of the City News^ and also privately. In
the present volume such corrections have been adopted,
and a most careful revision has been made of the contents.
The author wishes to draw attention to the fact that the
period to which these Reminiscences refers is that which is
indicated in the title. Many aged persons who remember
well-known characters living in Manchester fifty-five or
sixty years ago have been disappointed at not finding their
names mentioned, and have erroneously spoken of the
absence of such names as omissions.
Many portions have been re-written, and a considerable
quantity of new matter has been added. To those gentle-
men who have kindly furnished information and corrections,
the author tenders his sincere thanks. Their names are
too numerous to mention, and to single any out would
be invidious.
J. T. S.
C/iorUoH'Cum'Hard}\
January, i8Si,
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CONTENTS.
Chaptbr. Pace.
I. Streets and Bridges i
II. Wholesale Firms 17
III. Calico Printers 27
IV. Bleachers, Drysalters, and IIookers-In . 41
V. Doctors . 47
Vl. Druggists 60
VII. Booksellers 77
VIII. Sundry Traders, Engineers, and Professors 91
IX. Notable Persons 105
X. Places of Worship— Church of England . 115
XI. Do. Independent Chapels . 128
XII. Do. Wesleyan Methodist
Chapels . . • 147
XIII. Do. Unitarian Chapels . 170
XIV. Do. Various . . . .181
XV. Lawyers and Magistrates . . . . 195
XVI. The Post Office 202
XVII. Stage Coaching Days 209
XVIII. Travel and Goods Carriage by Road and Canal 219
XIX. Opening of the Railway to Liverpool . . 227
XX. Government of Town : Curious Officials . 235
XXI. Gas, Water, and Hackney Coaches . . 242
XXII. Medical and other Charitable Institutions 247
XXIII. Literary, Scientific, and other Societies . 260
XXIV. Newspapers 276
XXV. Building Clubs 292
XXVI. Music, Paganini, and Malibran . . . 297
XXVII. Public Amusements 307
XXVIII. Dress and Conclusion 3^6
Appendix 3^3
Obituary 333
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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS
TO THE
LARGE PAPER EDITION.
Albrecht, Franz, Esq., i6, Aytoun Street, Manchester.
Andrew, Frank, Esq., Ashton-under-Lyne.
Armstrong, Thomas, Esq., F.R.M.S., Highfield Bank, Urmston.
AscROFT, W. T., Esq., 3, Stamford Street, Altrincham.
AsHCROFT, Hy. Newton, Esq., Sydenham Villas, Birch Lane,
Longsight.
AsPLAND, L. M., Esq., LL.D., 47, Lindon Gardens, Kensington,
London, W,
Atkin, Eli, Esq., Femside, Newton Heath.
AuTY, Lewis, Esq., Holmefield, Sale.
Barlow, Mark, Esq., Hooley Range, Heaton Chapel.
Barlow, Thomas, Esq., 25, Major Street, Manchester.
Barton, Richard, Esq., West Leigh Lodge, Leigh, Lancashire.
Barton, Samuel M.,Esq., The Priory, Higher Broughton.
Battersby, Wm., Esq , The Hall, Lymm.
Benger, F. Baden, Esq., F.C.S., 7, Exchange Street, Manchester.
BiBBY, William Henry, Esq., Slade Lane, Levenshulme.
Birch, Herbert, Esq., The Vicarage, Blackburn.
Blakeley, Robert Duck, Esq., 5, York Street, Manchester.
Boddington, Henry, Esq., The Cove, Silverdale, near Camforth.
BODDINGTON, Henry, Jun., Esq., Strangeways Brewery.
Boddington, W. Slater, Esq., i. Princess Street, Manchester.
Bolton Subscription Library.
Boulton, Alderman Isaac Watt, J.P., Stamford House, Ashton-
under-Lyne.
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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS,
Bowers, Mrs., Warren Hall, Broughton, near Chester.
Brierley, Rev. James, J.P., Mossly Hall, Congleton.
Brockbank, W., Esq., Didsbury.
Broome, Joseph, Esq., Wood Lawn, Didsbury.
Buckley, Sir Edmund, Bart., Plas Dinas, Mawddwy, Merioneth-
shire.
Buckley, R. J., Esq., Strangeways Brewery.
Burton, A., Esq., 37, Cross Street, Manchester.
Burton, Joseph, Esq., Bramhall. 2 copies.
Burton, J. H., Esq., F.R.H.S., Trafelgar Square, Ashton-under-Lyne.
Bury, John, Esq., Corporation Street, Manchester.
Calderbank, Captain, Stockport, Cheshire.
Campbell, Thomas, Esq., Bridgeholme Green, Chapel-cn-le- Frith.
Carver, William, Esq., 15, Mosley Street, Manchester.
Chapman, Edward, Esq., Hill End, Mottram-in-Longdale. 2 copies.
Chorlton, Thomas, Esq., Brazenose Street, Manchester.
Clapham, W. W., Esq., 35, Church Street, Manchester.
Clegg, James, Esq., The Hurst, Alderley Edge.
Clsgg, Miss, Fern Villa, 88, Bolton Road, Pendleton.
CoLLES, Gerald, Esq., Mosley Park, Cheadle Hulme.
Cooper, Thomas, Esq., Mossley House, Congleton.
Cornish Brothers, Messrs., Booksellers, 37, New Street, Birming-
ham.
Cornish, James & Sons, Messrs., Booksellers, 297, High Hol-
bom, London, W.C.
Cottam, Samuel, Esq., C.A., F.R.A.S., F.R.Hist.S., Wightwick
House, Higher Broughton.
Craven, John, Esq., Smedley Lodge, Cheetham.
Crowther, Joshua, Esq., The Beeches, Buxton, Derbyshire.
CUNLIFFE, John, Esq., Lomber Hey, near Stockport.
Dale, Thomas, Esq., J. P., Bank House, Park Road, Southport.
Darbishire, George Stanley, Esq., J.P., Riversfield, Eccles.
Davies, Samuel, Esq., Northern Villa, Withington.
Day, Thos. J., Esq.^ Heaton Moor, near Stockport.
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UST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Day, Mr. T. J., Bookseller, 53, Market Street, Manchester.
DiMELOW, John Gartside, Esq., Lansdowne Villas, Withington.
Downing, William, Esq., Springfield House, Olton, Acocks Green,
Birmingham.
Elmy, Ben., Esq., Buxton House, Congleton.
FiELDEN, John, Esq., Dobroyd Castle, Todmorden
FiLDES, James, Esq., Edge Lane, Chorlton-cum- Hardy.
Fletcher, J. S., Esq., 75, Lever Street, Manchester.
FoYSTER, J. Asher, Esq., 5, Norfolk Street, Manchester.
Frame, James, Esq., liarbro Grove, Brooklands.
Frestone, Thomas W., Esq., 8, Watling Street, Manchester.
Frost, George, Esq., Dentist, 56, Brunswick Terrace, Broad Street, *
Pendleton.
Galloway, Charles, J., Esq., J. P., Thomyholme, Old Trafford.
Galloway, Henry, Esq., Manor Croft, Urmston.
Gavin, Thos., Esq., 21, Boston Street, Hulme.
Gell, T. F., Esq., Seedley Lodge, Pendleton.
Gibbons, Benjn., Esq., Woodleigh, Knutsford.
Gibson, Rev. N. W., M.A., Canon of Manchester, The Polygon,
Ardwick.
Gilbody, Captain A. Henry, Barway, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
GiLLOWs, Joseph, Esq., Dudley House, Bowdon.
Gorton, Richard Hall, Esq., Gildabrook, Eccles.
Grantham, John, Esq., 2, Rothsay Place, Old Trafford.
Gratrix, Samuel, Esq., J. P., Alport Town, Manchester.
Green, John, Esq., Lowton, Newton-le- Willows, Lancashire.
Green, The Rev. Walford, Whalley Range.
Greenwood, John, Esq., Coach Office, Pendleton.
Grindon, Leo H., Esq., 71, Rumford Street, Manchester.
Guest, W. H., Esq., 78, Cross Street, Manchester.
Hall, J., Esq., B.A., Manchester Grammar School.
Hall, John, Esq., The Grange, Hale, Cheshire.
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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS,
Hall, W., Esq., 17, The Crescent, Salford.
Halsey, Edward, Esq., High Tree Bank House, Leintwardine,
Herefordshire.
Hampson, J. Robert, Esq., South Parade, Manchester.
Hargreaves, John, Esq., Maiden Erlegh, Reading.
Harlan D, Wm. Dugdale, Esq., 25, Acomb Street, Manchester.
Harrison, George, Esq., Eccles.
Hartley, Wm., Esq., 24, Devonshire Street, Higher Broughton.
Hasleham, Edward, Esq., 49, Piccadilly, Manchester.
Hawkins, Wm., Esq., Fountain Street, Manchester.
Haworth, Abraham, Esq., Hilston House, Altrincham.
Haworth, G. C, Esq.,Ordsall Lane, Salford.
Haworth, Richard, Esq., J.P., Mersey Bank, Didsbury.
Hermann, Philipp, Esq., 296, Upper Brook Street, Manchester.
Heywood, Oliver, Esq., Claremont, Manchester.
Higginson, Joseph, Esq., Reddish Mills.
Hill, William, Esq., 4 Corporation Street, Manchester.
Hirst, Ben., Esq., Dobcross, Saddleworth.
Houghton, Miss, Lowton House, Lowton, Newton-le-Willows.
Hoy, James, Esq., 18, Granby Row, Manchester.
HULSE, W. W., Esq., C. E., The Grove, Withington, near Manchester.
IsANGK, MORITZ, Esq., 16, Aytoun Street, Manchester.
Jackson, H. B., Esq., Basford House, Whalley Range.
Jackson, Stan way, Esq., 38, Faulkner Street, Manchester.
Johnson, John Thewlis, Esq., Bradford, near Manchester.
King, John, Esq., Junr., Fern Bank, Palatine Road, Withington.
Knowles, John H.,Esq., Bridge House, Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
Lamb, James, Esq., John Dalton Street, Manchester.
Leech, Dr., Elm House, Whalley Range.
Lees, Samuel, Esq., Park Bridge, Ashton-under-Lyne.
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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. xiii.
Lever, Ellis, Esq. , Culcheth Hall, Bowdon, Cheshire.
Lever, Charles, Esq., „ „ ^
Lever, John Ellis, Esq., „ „ „
Levey, J. P., Esq., 13, Bridgewater Place, Manchester.
Lowe, J. W., Esq., The Ridge, Chapel-en-lc-Frith, Derbyshire.
Lund, E., Esq., F.R.C.S., 22, SL John Street, Manchester.
McKenna, Bernard, Esq., Lea Grange, Blackley.
Mackenzie, John O., Esq., Oaklands, Bowdon.
Malt, Stephen, Esq., ao, Bradshaw Street, Manchester.
Mark, John, Esq., St Ann's Square, Manchester.
Marshall, E. W., Esq., 38, Barton Arcade, Manchester.
Martin, Wm., Esq., Town Hall, Manchester.
Matthews, James E., Esq., 8, New Brown Street, Manchester.
Mellor, John William, Esq., Solicitor, Spring Bank, Rochdale.
Meredith Charles, Esq., 49, King Street, Manchester.
Milne, John Dewhurst, Esq., Cheadle, Cheshire.
Morton, Wm., Esq., 258, Birchfield Place, Stockport Road, Longsight.
MosBLEY, Charles, Esq., Victoria Park, Manchester.
Napier, G. W., Esq., Merchistoun, Alderley Edge.
Needham, J. C, Esq., Oakley, Chorlton-cum- Hardy.
Nixon, Mr. S., Bookseller, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
Owens College Library, Manchester.
Parlane, J as., Esq., Rusholme.
Parkinson, John B., Esq., 10, York Street, Manchester.
Peacock, J. M., Esq., 74, Coleman Street, London, KC.
Peatson, Joseph C, Esq., M.D., 28, St. John Street, Manchester.
Pickles, F. H., Esq. , Abbey ville, Fairfield.
Pickles, Thos. L., Esq., Rock Cottage, New Mills.
Plant, John, Esq., Peel Park Library.
Pollitt, Wm., Esq., London Road Station, Manchester.
Port, John, Esq., Mill Street, Ancoats. Manchester.
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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Prescott, C. H., Esq., 9, Charlotte Street, Manchester.
Provis, Chas. William, Esq., 7, Marsden Street, Manchester.
Radford, Thomas, Esq., M.D., Moorfield, Higher Broughton,
Manchester.
RiCKARDS, Charles Hilditch, Esq., Old Trafford.
RiPPON, C. W., Esq., Percy House, Old Trafford.
Robinson, John, Esq., Westwood Hall, Leek.
Rogers, James Taylor, Esq., Wellington Lodge, Littleborough.
RowoRTH, Arthur H., Esq., Heaton Mersey, Manchester.
RowORTH, Mr. Thomas, Bookseller, ai, St. Ann's Square, Man-
chester.
ROYLE, John, Esq. , 53, Port Street, Piccadilly, Manchester.
RusHWORTH, James, Esq., 215, York Street, Cheetham.
Rylands, John, Esq., New High Street, Manchester.
Saxby, Fred., Esq., 32A, George Street, Manchester.
SCHOFIELD, Thomas, Esq., Thomfield, Old Trafford.
Schroder, John M., Esq., 49, Faulkner Street, Manchester.
Seddon, James, Esq., Race Hill, Altrincham.
Shaw, Mrs., Saville Hotise, Billingshurst, Sussex.
Shiers, George Alfred, Esq., Tyntesfield, Ashton-on-Mersey,
Cheshire.
Sims, T. H., Esq., Mayfield, Manchester.
Smith, George Fereday, Esq., Grovehurst, Tunbridge Wells.
Smith, W. H. & Son, Messrs., Booksellers, L. & N. W. Bookstall,
London Road Station, Manchester.
Smith, W. H. & Son, Messrs., Booksellers, M. S. & L. Bookstall,
London Road Station, Manchester.
Steinthal, Henry Michael, Esq., The Hollies, Fallowfield.
Stern, Mrs., Littlegrove, East Bamett, Herts.
Stevens, James, Esq., F.R.I.B.A., Lime Tree House, Macclesfield.
Stones, Jeffrey, Esq., St Clement's Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
Stretton, B. , Esq., Grosvenor Mount, Crumpsall.
Sutcliffe, S. B., Esq., 44, Bury New Road, Higher Broughton.
SwANWiCK, ThOxMAS, Esq., Broughton Park, Manchester.
Swindells, Geo. H., Esq., Oak Villa, Heaton Moor, near Stockport.
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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Taylor, Hy., Esq., 8, John Dalton Street, Manchester.
Taylor, R., Esq., Blimdell Sands, near Liverpool.
Town LEY, F., Esq., Stockton Range, Chorlton-cum- Hardy.
Thorp, J. Walter Hook, Esq., Sunnyside, Macclesfield, Cheshire.
Tracy, W. Burnett, Esq., St. Thomas' Works, Ardwick Green.
Tubes, Brook, & Chrystal, Messrs., Booksellers, ii, Market Street,
Manchester.
Turner, Captain H., The Woodlands, near Stockport.
Turner, J. A., Esq., The Park, Wilmslow.
Turner, Wm. Alfred, Esq., Barlow Fold, Poynton, Cheshire.
Waddington, Harry H., Esq., Fern Bank, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
Walker, Thomas, Esq., Oldfield, Dunham, Cheshire.
Warburton, S., Esq., Sunnyhill, Crumpsall.
Warner, E. B., Esq., 15, Spring Gardens, Manchester.
Webster, Wm., Esq., Clare Villa, Heaton Moor, near Stockport.
Whitehead, Walter, Esq., F.R.C. S., 202, Oxford Road, Manchester.
Wilkinson, Mrs. Eason, Middlethorpe Hall, York.
Williamson, Wm., Esq., M.A., Middlewood, Clitheroe.
Windsor, William T., Esq., J.P., Springfield, Whalley Range.
Wood, Arthur C, Esq., 13, Ward's Buildings, Deansgate, Manchester.
Wood, John, Esq., J. P., Arden, Stockport
Wood, R. H., Esq., F.S.A., Penrhos House, Rugby.
Wood, Richard, Esq., Plumpton Hall, Heywood.
Wood, Robert, J., Esq., Dry wood Hall, Worsley, near Manchester.
WooLLKY, George S., Esq., 69, Market Street, Manchester.
Woolley, Harold, Esq., 69, Market Street, Manchester.
Yates, J. M., Esq., Ellesmere Park, Eccles.
Young, Wm. J., Esq., 6, Grove Terrace, Longsight.
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REMINISCENCES OF MANCHESTER
FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER I.
THE STREETS AND BRIDGES.
T T was on the afternoon of a certain Monday in March,
1829, that I was driven to Manchester in his gig by the
£3ither of the late Mr. John Robinson Kay, formerly a
director of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, who
lived at Longholme, near Bacup, where my father, who
was a Wesleyan minister, then was stationed. Having
lived in Manchester ever since, I propose to furnish some
reminiscences of the Manchester of that period.
Mr. Kay was a manufacturer of cloth, both by steam
power and hand loom, and always attended the Manchester
market on a Tuesday. A very different thing it was then
for a coimtry manufacturer to attend the Tuesday's market
from what it is now. With what ease and comfort, by the
aid of a first-class carriage and an express train, he is now
transported to Manchester, going and returning the same
B
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MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
day, even to and from places as distant as Blackburn and
Burnley. Then, if a manufacturer lived fifteen or twenty
miles from Manchester, he generally came on the Monday
previously, frequently driving his own conveyance, and put
up at some inn — there were not many "hotels'* in those
diiys — the name of which was given in the " Directory,"
as well as the address of his place of business in town.
Accordingly, in that for 1829, we find, under the head of
" Country Manufacturers," " Kay, Thomas, calico manufac-
turer, Longholme, 3, Walton's Buildings, Tues., White
Lion, Hanging Ditch." This is a sample of most other
entries under that head, though here and there one may be
found having only the place of business named.
After Mr. Kay had put his horse up at the White Lion,
he conducted me to my future home. No. 21, Market
Street The same shop is now numbered 41, inasmuch as
the streets were not then numbered on the sensible plan at
present adopted, viz., the even numbers on one side and
the odd on the other. Market Street was numbered, for
instance, from the first shop on the left-hand side going up —
which was then, and till very lately, that of Clark, cutler —
consecutively to the last shop on the same side, which was
occupied by R. and J. Gleave, booksellers, and was num-
bered 61 ; then crossing over the top of Market Street, 62
was the Royal Hotel and New Bridgewater Arms, kept by
Henry Charles Lacey, which had been removed from the
comer of High Street a few years previously ; and the last
shop on the left-hand side going down was 108, occupied
by Mr. Prince, a grocer, who made a princely fortune, and
from whom Prince's Court was named. Prince's Court
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NEWALVS BUILDINGS.
existed till the last enlargement of the Exchange, which
now covers the site. A few weeks after my coming to Man-
chester, I was taken to the office of Messrs. Atkinson and
Birch, in Norfolk Street, then one of the leading firms of
solicitors, and bound an apprentice to W. Dentith and Co.,
wholesale and retail druggists. One of my fellow-apprentices
was the youngest son of the celebrated Dr. Warren, and
brother of the late Samuel Warren, recorder of Hull, and
author of the " Diary of a Late Physician," and " Ten
Thousand a Year." Warren's brother Edward was an artist
of some promise.
About ten or twelve years before the time I speak of a
special Act of Parliament had empowered certain commis-
sioners to widen and improve Market Street. This had
been nearly completed but not entirely ; there were two old
piles of buildings still left standing. One was that which
occupied the site of the front part of the present Exchange,
and which when pulled down was succeeded by the ever-
memorable NewalFs Buildings (No. i). Mr. Newall, who
was a grocer, was then living, his shop being the first in the
old building going up the street In the alteration Market
Street had been raised at the lower end and lowered at the
middle part Consequently the floor of NewalFs shop was
lower than the level of the street, and to enter it you had
to descend by a step. The next shop to this was Shaw's, a
saddler ; then came a florist and seedsman, whose nursery
was in Cheetwood. Next was Charles Lovatt, the well-
known tobacconist By the way, there were then only
twenty-three tobacconists in the whole of Manchester and
Salford. To-day, to show how society has in one respect
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MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
made a retrograde movement, I may mention that the last
"Directory" contams the names of nearly 500. Of course
some allowance must be made for increase of population,
but will that account for all this difference ? The last place
of business in this old pile was the Peacock Coach Office,
kept by Mr. John Knowles, the father of the late proprietor
of the Theatre Royal, who also carried on the business of a
coal merchant at Ducie Street, Piccadilly. It was from this
office that the afterwards popular London coach the Peveril
of the Peak started, it then being only a two-horse one.
The other pile of old buildings stood nearly opposite
Spring Gardens, on the site now occupied by the shop of
Messrs. Woolley and the adjacent ones. The street here
having been considerably lowered, the foothpath on that
side was on a sort of bank, which separated the carriage way
from the path. Singular to say, there was also a coach
office in this old pile, the Swan, kept by Weatherald and
Webster — (the latter gentleman was a Quaker) — ^from which
the Red Rover used to start. Next to it was the shop of
Mr. Hargreaves, then one of the oldest druggists in Man-
chester ; and hereabouts was the place of business for a
time of Old Weatherley, the bookseller. A little higher up
was Cunliffes, Brooks, and Co.'s Bank ; and near it was the
warehouse of Mr. Emmanuel Mendel, father of Mr. Sam
Mendel, a rope, twine, and pitch-paper manufacturer, his
house being in Brazennose Street. A little higher up again
was the Palace Inn, which stood back, having a good open
space in front, and being a large brick house having a double
ffight of steps at the front door. It is well known that in
1745 Mr. Dickensen lived and entertained Prince Charles
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MARKET STREET.
here. John, the head waiter for many years, was widely
known. He afterwards kept the Ring's Arms, at the bottom
of King Street, his name being PownalL
The time prescribed by the Act of Parliament for effect-
ing the improvement of Market Street was limited, I
believe, to twelve years. When it had transpired, there was
one more alteration to be effected and which was conse-
quendy not made for many years after. The next shop to
the inn at the comer of Palace Street, occupied by Mr.
John Roberts, the stationer, projected a little beyond the
line of the street, and has only been pulled down at a
recent date, having been the subject of litigation between
Mr. James Cheetham, the last occupier, and the Corpora-
tioa The office of the Guardian newspaper, published by
Messrs. Taylor and Gamett, was on the opposite side of
the street, nearer Brown Street. Neither Corporation Street
nor New Brown Street had then any existence, whilst a
portion of Cross Street running from Chapel Walks to
Market Street, then known as Pool Fold, was a narrow and
somewhat dingy street In it was the office of Hannibal
Becker and Co., large oil of vitriol manufacturers. Mr.
Becker was an ancestor of a well-known member of the
Manchester School Board. The first shop on the right
hand near where the Exchange steps now stand, was that of
Patison, a confectioner; next was a tavern called the
Rifleman ; and next the book shop of Ann Hopps, the wife
of James Hopps, who was the brother of John, a well-
known bookseller. The shop was entered by a flight of
steps, and Mrs. Hopps lodged with Morris, a chimney
sweeper, who lived farther on in the same street
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6 MANCHESTER PIFTY VEARS AtiO.
Of course we shouH hardly expect that any one who was
in business fifty years ago in Market Street would be found
there to-day. In the case of the Messrs. Darbyshire, the
business is still carried on by the sons, whom I well remem-
ber as youths. A few other names are still perpetuated —
though the owners have long since passed away — in Lynch
and -Jewsbury, the druggists, Mr. Daniel Lynch being a
leading man amongst the Freemasons of that day. The
celebrated James Everett, the Wesleyan minister, at that
time kept a stationer's shop about ten doors above Clark's.
He was originally a Wesleyan minister, but on account of a
throat affection went into business, and afterwards re-entered
the ministry. The next shop was that of the fashionable
hatter of that day, Mr. Mountcastle, whose appearance was
rather remarkable, being very good looking, always un-
usually well dressed, and wearing a scrupulously white
neckerchief. At that time there was a very heavy duty on
all kinds of glass, and as a consequence not a single shop-
window contained any plate glass, but shop windows were
composed of small squares of ordinary crown glass. The
first shop which made a venture in that line was one very
near Mr. Mountcastle's, I think a milliner's, and called
Chantilly House, This was before the duty was taken off.
There were two windows, and in the centre of each was in-
serted a brass frame about two feet long and one and a
half broad, holding a sheet of plate glass. It used to be
said that the two cost more than ;^3o. If the object of
the proprietor was to cause a little sensation I am sure he
was gratified, for everybody went to see these "large"
squares of plate glass.
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MARjtET STREET.
The next building to the Bridgewater Arms coach office
was the warehouse of H. Bannerman and Sons ; and not
far from this was the office of Mr. David Holt, generally
known as Quaker Holt, a cotton spinner, who was reputed
to be the best carver at a public dinner-table in Man-
chester. He was one of the commissioners for the widen-
ing of Market Street Nearly opposite to Dentiths* was
the Norwich Union Fire Office, having a statue of Justice
blindfolded over the door. The Talbot Inn, which was
pulled down a few years since, was then standing at the
comer of the* street now called West Mosley Street ; and a
little lower down was the Mosley Arms, afterwards removed
to Piccadilly. Turning out of Market Street into Brown
Street, next to the Commercial Inn, were the Shambles,
since converted into the Post Office; and over was the
Manor Court Room, where the Court Leet was held, where
the boroughreeve and constables were elected, and where
the "Court of Requests" was held. The Court, which
had only jurisdiction to the amount of forty shillings, was
presided over by commissioners, of whom the chairman
was a barrister named Hill, whilst his colleagues were lay*
men, as in a Court of Quarter Sessions.
The left-hand side of Piccadilly going from Market Street
consisted principally of shops, a few private houses, and
offices. Amongst the shops was that of Mr. Joseph Kid-
son, a tailor, which remains yet in the hands of his son.
The supply of water was then in the hands of the Man-
chester and Salford Waterworks Company, and it was here
they had their offices. Near to them was that of the well-
known John Law, a solicitor, who was very popular as an
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8 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
advocate in the police court, his opponent generally being
another solicitor, Edward Foulkes. Opposite the end of
Portland Street were two^ood houses, in one of which Mr.
John Roberts the stationer lived, the other being occupied
by Mr. James Bloor, one of the principal pawnbrokers,
whose business was conducted at the back of his premises
in Back Piccadilly, the front presenting all the appearance
of p private house. Mr. Bloor now resides at Southport, a
hale and hearty old man nearly eighty years of age, and he
told me lately that having been born in that house he
resided there for seventy-two years. Will not this fact bear
out what Mr. Turner the surgeon used to say as to the mis-
taken views of those people who are so fond of talking of
the unhealthiness of Manchester? Mr. Turner lived for
the greater part of his life in the heart of Manchester, and
after spending many of his last years in Mosley Street, died
at a good old age. I am tempted to add my own testi-
mony to the effect that at a most important period of my
life, when being developed from a boy into a man, I lived
eight years in Market Street, and had not a day's illness
during the whole time.
Instead of the magnificent hotel which now stands at the
comer of Portland Street, there existed two or three large
brick houses, known as Portland Place. In the first of
them dwelt Mr. Thomas Houldsworth, who lived to be one
of the oldest members of Parliament, representing success-
ively Pontefract, Newton, and North Notts. " Houldsworth's
Factory," in Little Lever Street, was well known all over
Manchester. He was very popular amongst his employes,
as well as amongst the inhabitants generally, and was a
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THE INFIRMARY.
liberal supporter of the races, keeping a stud of racehorses,
his jockeys always wearing green and gold. The next house
was occupied by Mr. Robert Os|3en, cotton spinner; and
the next by the two partners in the firm of Hargreaves and
Dugdale, calico printers, whose warehouse was in Marsden's
Square. *
The Infirmary was a plain brick building, without the two
wings, which have been added to it since; the lunatic
asylum, which had a lower elevation, being an extension of
the main building. In front was the sheet of water known
as the Infirmary Pond, separated from the footpath by
palisading. At the Infirmary gates stood the public baths,
the income arising from them being appropriated to the
supj)ort of the Infirmary. The charge for a cold bath to
non subscribers was is. ; to subscribers of half-a-guinea, lod.;
and to those of a guinea, pd. The price of a vapour bath
was 5s. ; of a vapour and hot bath when used together, 6s.;
and of the shampooing bath, 7s. They were under the
superintendence of Mr. William Galor, who was succeeded
by Mr. John Haworth, for many years a councillor for St.
George's Ward, and now a resident of Southport, in the
enjoyment of excellent health at the age of seventy-six.
Perhaps there is no street which has been so completely
metamorphosed in the course of fifly years as Mosley Street
I do not mean as to its shape and size, for they are not
altered, but as to its character. Could one of its old
residents see to-day its warehouses lining each side and the
immense stream of trafiic pouring constantly through it, he
would be astonished Fifty years ago it was a quiet, orderly,
genteel street, the abode of some of the Uite of Manchester.
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1 Manchester fifty years ago.
Here were the residences of the Rev. Dr. Calvert, warden
of the Collegiate Church, Daniel Grant, Sam Brooks,
David Bannerman, Thomas Worthington, Leo Schuster,
S. L. Behrens, John Frederick Foster, the Stipendiary
Magistrate, and several of the leading medical men. The
Portico was there, as also the Royal Institution, which had
been recently built, at a cost of ;^2 6,000, The Assembly
Room, opposite the Portico, was a plain brick building;
whilst on the other side of Charlotte Street, but on the same
side of Mosley Street, was the chapel where Dr. M*Call was
preaching to large congregations every Simday. Higher up
the street was the Unitarian Chapel, where the Rev. J. J.
Tayler officiated. I well remember a hue and cry that one
Sunday morning Daniel Grant's house had been robbed
whilst the inmates were at church. The large warehouses
in Parker Street, behind the Infirmary, had then no existence,
whilst George Street and Faulkner Street contained princi-
pally private residences. In fact, I cannot remember that
there was a single warehouse in either of these streets, Mosley
Street, Portland Street, Peter Street, Oxford Road, or
Dickenson Street, except that in the latter street was
Pickford's canal warehouse, an arm of the canal reaching
into the warehouse, where the boats were loaded with goods
for London. It is an extraordinary circumstance that
whilst so many buildings in this street and neighbourhood
which existed filly years ago have been destroyed to make
way for the erection of large and substantial warehouses on
their site, there is nearly opposite to the former site of
Pickford's warehouse a row of small cottages which were
there at the time I speak of, and which are standing yet
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OXFORD ROAD. \ \
Peter Street, which now has its Free Trade Hall, Con-
cert Hall, Theatre, and other public buildings, contained
nothing of the kind fifty years ago. Both the Theatre
Royal and " Concert Rooms " were in Fountain Street, the
former occupying a site between York Street and Charlotte
Street, on which the warehouse of Daniel Lee and Co. now
stands ; whilst music was not then honoured by being domi-
ciled in a separate building, but had apartments next door
to the churchwardens' office and nearly opposite the theatre.
The large space of ground known as St Peter's Field, on
which the building erected for a museum with others now
stand, and on which the great meeting of 60,000 persons
was held which ended so disastrously, in 181 9, was still un-
occupied by buildings. A large meeting of, it was said,
40,000 or 50,000 persons was held on it shortly after the
time of which I am writing for some political purpose.
Oxford Road was pretty much then as it is now, except
that of course the traffic was much less ; no railway bridge
crossed it, there were fewer shops and more private houses,
and a little beyond Tuer Street, the houses were large and
detached, the homes of the wealthy. Here were the resi-
dences of Richard Potter, afterwards M.P. for Wigan;
William Entwistle, once M.P. for South Lancashire ; the
Rev. Dr. M'Call, James Wood, the founder of the firm of
Wood and Westhead ; and John Femley, who before he
died presented such a magnificent gift to the Wesleyan
Connexion, in the shape of a large and handsome chapel,
day and Sunday schools, a school for ministers' daughters,
and a minister's house at Southport Mr. Jeremiah Gamett,
one of the proprietors of the Manchester Guardian^ lived
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1 2 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
in one of the houses which have since been converted into
shops opposite to the east side of All Saints' Church, known
then as Grosvenor Place.
Chorlton-upon-Medlock was then known as Chorlton Row.
The Stretford Road was not made, and the townships of
Hulme and Moss Side consisted mainly of fields. What
houses and shops there were in Hulme were chiefly in
Chester Road and the neighbourhood. Jackson's Lane
contained thirty or forty houses at.the Chester Road end,
and then became a winding country lane extending in the
direction of Greenheys. I remember taking a walk one
Sunday afternoon soon after I came to Manchester, and
turning out of Oxford Road into a street which I think was
Boundary Street, when I soon got into the fields, and by
following a footpath at last found myself in Jackson Street,
near to Chester Road.
For more than forty years no alteration was made in
Deansgate itself of any importance ; so that the Deansgate
of fifty years ago was very like that of ten years ago. The
names of some streets turning out of Deansgate have been
altered, whilst one or two new streets have been made, and
others have disappeared. Cupid's Alley has been changed
into Atkinson Street, and Parliament Street into Hardman
Street, the latter street being in such bad repute it was
thought best to obliterate the name. Neither John Dalton
Street nor Lower King Street existed at that time. At the
comer of Bridge Street and Deansgate were commodious
meat shambles, and behind them the pork shambles. Where
now is the beginning of Lower King Street was an open
space, known as the Star Yard, leading to the stables behind
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DEANSGATE.
n
the Star Hotel At the other comer of the yard was the
Star Coach Office. The inn was kept by Mr. Thomas
Yates. He was about the last gentleman in Manchester
who wore that peculiar appendage of hair hanging down the
back, known as a queue. Mrs. Yates survived him, and
continued the business to the time of her death, when she
was succeeded by her daughter, Miss Ann Yates, in whose
hands it still remains. Mrs. Yates, who was a tall handsome
lady, appeared at the first Fancy Dress Ball in 1828,
dressed as an '' Old English Lady," attracting considerable
attention from her fine representation of the character.
King Street, from Deansgate to Cross Street, has not
undergone any important alteration. The part opposite the
Old Town Hall has been widened. St Ann's Street,
leading from the Square into Deansgate, only extended as
far as Back Square, the remainder of the way consisting of
a very narrow street, known as Toll Lane, so called, I
suppose, from the fact that it being originally the principal
entrance to Acres Fair, held in the Square, toll was there
demanded on the cattle passing through.
One of the most important alterations ever made in
Manchester was the opening out of Victoria Street and the
making of the road past the Cathedral to its junction with
Strangeways, together with the building of Victoria Bridge,
an improvement be it remembered designed and completed
without the assistance of the Corporation, for it then had
no existence. Most persons are aware that what is now
Victoria Street was formerly Smithy Door. The entrance
to it from Market Street was like a narrow isthmus passing
between the projecting comers of two buildings opposite
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14 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
each other, the space between the curbstones being only
sufficient to allow a vehicle to pass with scarcely an inch to
spare. The width of the footpath was proportionate, so that
it was dangerous for a person to attempt to pass through at
the same time as a vehicle. The right-hand building was
the Unicom Inn, kept by Joseph Challender, at which the
celebrated club known as " John Shaw's " a few years after-
wards used to meet. The other end of Smithy Door
opened into a street which was a continuation of Cateaton
Street, and was joined to the bridge which there spanned
the Irwell. This was a very narrow structure and had a
much greater declivity than has the present bridge. It was
known as the " Old Bridge," and the street which joined
Cateaton Street with it, and which blocked up that end of
Smithy Door, was "Old Bridge Street" The footpath
which now separates the Cathedral yard from the Mitre
Hotel was continued round the yard on the river side, just
as it is yet on the other side. Between this footpath and
the high rocky bank of the river were a few shops and two
or three taverns, of which I remember the Blackamoor's
Head was one and the inevitable Ring-o'-Bells another.
The fine open space in which the statue of Cromwell now
stands had then no existence. Foot passengers could get
into Strangeways by means of the footpath, but carriages
had to go round by Hanging Ditch and Fennel Street So
also in going to Cheetham Hill, a foot passenger would
have to take the right-hand footpath of the churchyard and
proceed through Long Millgate to Ducie Bridge ; whilst a
vehicle would have to get into Millgate by Hanging Ditch
and Fennel Street
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BRIDGES.
15
Manchester was then encircled by a number of toll-bars,
at some of which foot passengers had to pay toll for cross-
ing a bridge. There was a toll-bar on Ducie Bridge ; one
in Strangeways, not far from Strangeways Hall, which was
then standing; one at Longsight, one on Broughton Bridge,
one on Blackfriars Bridge, one in Regent Road, one in
Stretford Road after it was formed, one at Pendleton, and
I think others. I remember the case of a medical man
who wanted to see a patient that lived just through the
Strangeways bar, and who left his gig waiting whilst he
walked through to see his patient and back. He was sum-
moned by the keeper of the bar before the magistrates and
had to pay the toll
The bridges connecting Salford with Manchester were
the iron bridge leading from Strangeways to Greengate, the
Old Bridge, Blackfriars, New Bailey, and Regent Road.
Like the Old Bridge, the New Bailey one has been replaced
with a handsome structure, more suited to the increasing
traffic passing over it. The little chain bridge, as it was
called, in Lower Broughton, was then in existence, for I
remember the circumstance that very shortly after I came
to Manchester, a number of soldiers of the rifle corps
whicli was then stationed here, and who wore a green uni-
form, were crossing the bridge, when, in consequence of
the uniformity of their step, the chains gave way, and a
number of them were precipitated into the river, without
any fatal result, though with some serious injury to a few.
Had they broken the regularity of their step, and crossed
the bridge in non-military fashion, I suppose the misfor-
tune would not have happened. A singular circumstance
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1 6 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
connected with the accident was, that the bridge was
erected by the father-in-law of the officer in command of
the men, and who lived at the castellated mansion close
by, called Castle Irwell.
To return to the central part of the town, the streets in
which the principal Manchester warehouses were to be
found, were High Street, Cannon Street, Marsden Square,
Church Street, and the smaller streets running out of these.
There was not then, or for some years after, a single ware-
house in Manchester making any pretensions to architec-
tural effect, either in the home or shipping trade. Not only
were the buildings in which the latter were carried on
very plain structures, but they were to be found mostly in
retired situations, such as Back George Street, Mulberry
Street, Queen Street, and Back Mosley Street
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LEESE, KERSHAW, AND CALLENDER. 17
CHAPTER II.
WHOLESALE FIRMS.
T REMARKED, in the last chapter, that fifty years ago the
principal warehouses were to be found in High Street,
Cannon Street, and the neighbourhood. The first ware-
house in High Street, on the right, turning out of Market
Street, was that of Wood and Wales. The senior partner
was the same gentleman, T believe, who in after years took
a great interest in the passing of the act which prevents
boys climbing chimneys to sweep them, and was so active
in seeing its provisions carried out The next warehouse
was that of Butterworth and Brooks, calico printers, and a
little further was the warehouse of Leese, Kershaw, and
Callender, then one of the leading houses in the general
home trade. Joe Leese, as I have heard him familiarly
called, lived at the Polygon, Ardwick. James Kershaw, as
is generally known, became M.P. for Stockport He was a
prominent member of the Congregationalist body. The
third partner was William Romaine Callender, father of the
late member for Manchester, who resided in Plymouth
Grove. Mr. Callender was also a Congregationalist A few
doors ftirther was the firm of Wood and Westhead. Both
gentlemen were leading members of the Wesleyan body,
c
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1 8 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Mr. James Wood being a popular local preacher. His son,
Dr. Peter Wood, was one of the physicians to the Infirmary
for some years, until his retirement to Southport, where he
died a few years since. Mr Edward Westhead, his partner,
lived in Cavendish Street, at the large house near the
comer of Cambridge Street, behind which there was then a
large gardea His eldest son, Joshua Procter Westhead,
was M.P. for York for some years. He inherited the Lea
Castle estates, in Warwickshire, from his uncle. Captain
Brown, whose name he assumed under the form of Brown-
Westhead.
Right amongst the surrounding warehouses in High
Street was the office of Mr. Capes, the auctioneer, father of
the late senior partner in the firm of Capes, Dunn, and Co.,
whom I remember very well at that time as a clerk in the
office of Gardner, Harter, and Co., drysalters, Chapel Walks.
Near to this was the warehouse of Mr. Thomas Worthing-
ton, whose house was in Mosley Street, but who afterwards
resided at Sharston Hall, in Cheshire. On the opposite
side of the street was that of William Maclure and Sons.
Mr. Maclure lived at Tipping Street, Ardwick, and was the
father, I believe, of a gentleman well known amongst us.
Mr. George Royle Chappell's warehouse was near to this.
He was an active member of the Wesleyan body, and re-
sided in Nelson Street, Oxford Road When he went to
reside there first — shewing the then insecurity of the roads
outside the town — ^and was detained late at the warehouse,
he used to secure a place on a London coach which started
at about nine or ten o*clock at night and went through
Oxford Road and Wihnslow. The Sun Fire Office
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THE SUN FIRE OFFICE.
19
ought to be honourably mentioned as having so long and so
bravely resisted the ambitious tendency to change, which
has led some insurance offices to seek success more by de-
pendence upon outside show than upon substantial merit.
The "Sun Fire Office: Robert Duck, agent," was No. i,
High Street, in 181 1 (how long before I cannot say) ; it was
so in 1829; it was still there under the same agency in
1848 ; and there in 1876 under another agency. At last I
find it has yielded to the march of events, and is there no
longer. All honour to the Sun Fire Office.
In Marsden Square was the warehouse of William Allen
and Brothers, who removed afterwards to High Street Mr.
Allen was the father of Mr. William Shepperd Allen, the
present M.P. for Newcastle-under-Lyme. Here also were
Pickford's Van Office, and the Savings Bank under the
management of Mr. Gibson. A few years previously, Mr.
Thomas Price, a fustian manufacturer, whose warehouse
was in the square, had been left alone in his office during
the dinner hour, and was found by his clerk lying on the
floor dead, having been brutally murdered His warehouse-
man was suspected of the crime and tried at Lancaster, but
the evidence not being strong enough to convict him, he
was acquitted. Here also was the warehouse of Mr. Hugh
Greaves, father of the late George Greaves, the surgeon, of
Stretford Road, who died a few years since of blood
poisoning, in consequence of pricking his hand during an
operation.
In Cannon Street, Messrs. Wright and Lee had their
place of business, the firm afterwards becoming that of
Daniel Lee and Co. Near to this was the warehouse 6f
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20 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Mr. Absalom Watkin, father of Sir Edward ; and lower
down that of Francis Marris^ Son, and Jackson, becoming
afterwards Edward and John Jackson, of York Street, and
the bank of Scholes, Tetlow, and Co. At the lower end of
the street, on the Market Street side, was the warehouse of
Potters and Norris. The " Potters " consisted of the two
brothers, Thomas and Richard. The latter became M.P.
for Wigan, whilst the former was the first Mayor of Man-
chester, and was knighted. He was the father of the late
Sir John Potter, and of Mr. Thomas Bayley Potter, M.P. for
Rochdale. His residence was at Buile Hill, Pendleton. I
well remember him driving to business in a plain one-horse
open vehicle, with his two sons, then very young men, and
arriving soon after eight every morning at the Market Street
end of Cromford Court, which was close to Mr. Dentith's
shop, where they alighted and walked through Cromford
Court to Cannon Street One of the most popular Church-
men in Manchester fifty years ago was Mr. Benjamin
Braidley, a merchant, whose warehouse was in New Cannon
Street, his house being in Lever Street He was several
times chosen boroughreeve, and two or three times was a
candidate for the honour of representing Manchester in
Parliament, but without success. In the same street was
the warehouse of Broadhurst, Henson, and Broadhurst, a
well-known firm. On its dissolution Mr. Broadhurst ob-
tained the appointment of Borough Treasurer under the
Corporation. The warehouse of Fletcher, Burd, and
Wood was then in Friday Street The firm was afterwards
changed to Samuel Fletcher, Son, and Co., and the business
removed to one of the large warehouses in Parker Street
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MR. JOHN SLAGG, SENR. 2 1
Mr. Samuel Fletcher was one of the foremost members
amongst the Congregationalists, and no man was ever more
deservedly and more generally respected. His residence
was in Oxford Road His partner, Mr. Burd, on the
establishment of the Corporation, became Alderman Burd.
The late Mr. John Slagg^s warehouse was a door or two
from Market Street, in Pall Mall, and being near to Mr.
Dentith's shop, I well remember him when comparatively a
young man. In the course of time the word " company "
was added to the name of the firm, but the same warehouse
has been occupied by the firm till nearly the present time.
Mr. Thomas Slagg, his father, at that time kept the
Clarendon Inn, in Oxford Road, behind which, in 1824,
was a well-firequented bowling green. He died wealthy,
leaving behind him another son, Thomas, who has resided
at Lytham* some years, and a daughter who married Mr.
Briggs, a manufacturer at Blackburn.
Besides the streets which have been named, there were
several smaller warehouses in Fountain Street and Spring
Gardens. Instead of the palatial warehouse built by
Messrs. J. and S. Watts in Portland Street, at the time I
speak of they occupied a shop in Deansgate, nearly oppo-
site the present Barton Arcade, where they carried on the
drapery business. Their business was afterwards removed,
first to a fine warehouse in New Brown Street, when that
street was opened out ; then to a larger one in Fountain
Street, behind the present Manchester and Liverpool Bank;
and afterwards to their present one in Portland Street.
* He has died since these lines first appeared in print.
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2 2 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
One of the oldest and most prosperous wholesale houses in
Manchester is that of John and Nathaniel Philips and Co.,
of Church Street, the firm having been in existence more
than eighty years. Originally they had a mill in Salford,
and afterwards a warehouse in Somerset Street, Garside
Street Their name appears in the Directory of 1811, as
merchants and tape manufacturers, and in 1829 they still
occupied the premises in Somerset Street, but shortly
after removed to Church Street Mr. Mark Philips, who
was four times returned as M.P. for Manchester (once in
opposition to Mr. W. K Gladstone, then a Conservative
candidate), was a member of the firm. Another house in
Church Street deserves mention, inasmuch as the history of
the rise and progress of the firm of John, James, and George
Cooper may be taken as a type of the history of scores of
other houses who have been successful in the Manchester
trade. Fifty years ago Mr. John Codper, who migrated
from a village near Leek, was a draper in Oldham Street,
having converted a private house into a shop. At first his
speciality was mourning, but shortly after he bought a small
manufactory at Dunstable, and began the wholesale straw-
bonnet trade, in rooms over the Oldham Street shop.
After a time he was joined by the two brothers, when they
extended their premises backwards along Church Street,
and afterwards acquired the premises now occupied by
them, and I suppose are now one of the best known houses
in the kingdom.
Our energetic and venerable fellow-townsman, Mr. John
Rylands, was then a young man in partnership with his
father in New High Street, in a warehouse which still forms
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MR. JOHN RYLANDS, 23
a port of the extensive premises occupied by the Company
bearing his name. So that the motto of the Eccles-cake
maker might truly be written over their door, "Never
Removed," though it should be added, "But Greatly
Extended I " The firm was then Rylands and Sons, and
they employed a number of handloom weavers in the manu-
facture of checks. There is a characteristic anecdote told
of young John Rylands by an old man who is now employed
in carting coals*at Altrincham. It would appear that it was
a practice with some of the weavers to damp the " cut," as
it was called, before bringing it to the employer, I presume
for the purpose of making it weigh heavier. When this
carter was a lad his mother used to weave for Rylands and
Sons, and she occasionally sent her son with the cut. It
was young John's business to receive the work and examine
it. On the lad's bringing a cut one day the following con-
versation took place : —
"Now, my lad, I want you to tell me something. If
youll tell me the truth I'll give you a penny."
" Ay, my mother tells me alius to tell t' truth."
" Very well ; what did your mother do to this cut before
she gave it you ? "
" Hoo did nowt, nobbut just weet it a bit."
" Robert (to the cashier), give this lad a penny."
A neighbour, who had also brought some work in, over-
hearing the conversation, and getting home before the lad,
told his mother what had been said. Whereupon the good
woman prepared to give her son a good thrashing on his
return, but he made such a piteous appeal to her to the
effect that she " had alius towd him to tell t' truth," that he
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24 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
quite disarmed her wrath. As usual, the anecdote remains
unfinished, and we are not told what young Mr. John did.
The firm of Carlton, Walker, and Co., has been one of
high repute. Fifty years ago Mr. James Carlton was in
business alone as a muslin manufacturer, at 13, New High
Street, his residence then being in Strangeways ; but shprtlj
afterwards he removed to Irwell House, Lower Broughton,
where he continued to reside for many years. There has
perhaps not been a Manchester merchant whose character
for honour and integrity stood higher than James 'Carlton's.
Very quiet and undemonstrative, he was the true Christian
gentleman, and was a prominent member of the Congrega-
tionalist body. Shortly after the time referred to he left the
warehouse in New High Street, and founded the firm of
Carlton, Walker, and Lewis, in whose service my only
brother died, the new warehouse being in Mosley Street,
and still in the occupation of George Walker and Co.
In those days the small easy neckties now worn by
gentlemen were unknown, and the neck was generally en-
cased either in a deep stiff stock which buckled behmd, or
in a large silk handkerchief, inside which was a very deep
stiffener, a specimen of which may be seen in the portrait of
Baron Stockmar, given in the first volume of Theodore
Martin's " Life of the Prince Consort" One of the principal
manu&cturers of this class of goods was Frederick Ramsden,
who first had a shop in Deansgate. His trade having greatly
enlarged, shortly after New Brown Street was opened out he
took a warehouse in it, and entered into the general trade;
when my brother (having served an apprenticeship with Mr.
Peter Drummond, a large draper, in Deansgate, and father
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CARLTON, WALKER, AND LEWIS. 25
of Dr. Dnimmond, of Higher Broughton) entered Ramsden's
service, and after a while travelled for him. After being
with him six years he entered into an engagement with
Carlton, Walker, and Lewis, and having travelled for them
one year he came home to die, at the early age of twenty-
seven. There used to be a little tale told of one of their
travellers, a Welshman, which, as a good joke, is worth
repeating. There is a certain class of goods known as
jaconets, and which, I am told, are glazed calicoes used for
lining the sleeves of coats, &c, and were sent out on wooden
rollers. When these goods were first introduced, the firm
in question did a large trade in them. The Welshman once
visited a draper in the principality, and in describing the
big trade his firm was doing in this class of goods, he gravely
assured his customer that such was the demand for them
that they had been obliged to buy a large forest in America
in order to provide wood for the rollers.
Amongst packers and makers-up, I may be allowed to
mention the London firm of Wheelton, Brewer, and Buck-
land, which opened a branch in Manchester very shortly
after the time of which I am writing, under the management
of Mr. John Brewer. Their place of business was the New
Market Hall, opposite the end of Strutt Street, near the
City News office. Though an old building it had been
substantially built and contained a large room on the
ground floor, which was flagged as though it had once been
a market-hall. I see it is now replaced by a more modem
structure. Mr. Wheelton was sherifl* of London at the
time of the collision between the Court of Queen's Bench
and the House of Commons in connection with the trial of
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26 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Stockdale v. Hansard. Stockdale was a publisher of a certain
class of literature, and had been attacked by some member
in his place in the House of Commons. His speech was in
due course printed by Hansard, against whom Stockdale
brought an action in the Queen's Bench for libel. It was
decided that although the member was privileged in what
he said, Hansard was not in his publication of it, and Stock-
dale obtained a verdict. It was the sheriffs place to levy
execution, which by his officers he did. Great excitement
prevailed in the House because of this supposed infringe-
ment of the liberties of Parliament, and, afler Wheelton had
been summoned to the bar of the House to explain his
conduct, Parliament avenged itself by lodging the poor
sheriflf in the Tower, where he remained for about a week,
when he was liberated.
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THE DUTY ON PRINTED CALICOES. 2 7
CHAPTER III.
CALICO PRINTERS.
TJ^IFTY years ago all the ingenuity of a Chancellor
of the Exchequer was employed, not in dis-
covering how he could relieve the burden of taxation,
but how many ways there were into the pocket of the
British taxpayer. As a consequence we cannot be surprised
that not only were newspapers and advertisements heavily
taxed, but soap, leather, glass, and many other articles of
general consumption, amongst them being printed calicoes,
which paid a duty of 3id. per square yard. I well remem-
ber how the tab ends of prints used to bear certain numbers
and hierogl3rphics which had been impressed on them by
the exciseman. Of course there was a heavy penalty for
either buying or sellmg a piece of print without such marks.
Every printworks was under the supervision of an excise-
man, who used to visit the place at certain times to levy the
duty and impress the pieces with his stamp. Tales were
rife as to excisemen visiting various printworks for this pur-
pose, and sometimes being so well plied with liquor as to
lose self-control, when their stamp would be borrowed for a
short time, and used pretty freely in stamping hundreds of
pieces, which were consequently admitted into the market
duty-free.
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28 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
I have mentioned that the second warehouse on the
right-hand side of High Street, was that of Butterworth and
Brooks, calico printers, whose works were at the other side
of Bury. When a boy, I accompanied my father over the
works, and remember being allowed to enter a room which
we were told very few persons were allowed to enter, inas-
much as a new process of engraving copper rollers was
carried on in it. This was by working a small steel roller,
which had the pattern engraved on it, on a large copper one,
by means of a press, the hard steel cutting the pattern on
the softer copper, and the process being many times re-
peated till the whole surface of the copper roller was
covered with the pattern.
The second partner in the firm was the well-known John
Brooks, whose residence was then in Lever Street, and who
was the brother of Samuel Brooks, the banker. How
different in some things were the two men. Both successful
in business, the one took an active interest in public affairs,
the other but little, if any. The banker's name would be
occasionally found on a committee, but he seldom appeared
on the platform, and I cannot remember him once making
a speech on any public question. When Brunei, the great
engineer, and the builder of the Great Eastern, whilst play-
ing with his children on one occasion, unfortunately swallowed
half a sovereign, which stuck in the gullet, remaining there
two or three days, during which there was considerable
public excitement about it« it is said that John Brooks
remarked to a friend, '^They should send for our Sam,
for if anybody can get it, he can." John Brooks was a
great friend of Mr. Benjamin Braidley, the well-known
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MR. JOHN BROOKS. 29
Conservative, and though a Conservative himself, he came
out nobly during the Anti-Com-Law agitation, distinguishing
himself as well by his energetic opposition to the Com Law
as by his munificent support of the funds required to carry
on the agitation. When the last supreme effort was made
to effect a breach in the walls of protection, and at a large
and enthusiastic meeting of merchants and manufacturers,
held in the Town Hall, it was resolved to raise a fund of
;^2 50,000; John Brooks, with twenty-two others, put down
his name for ;^i,ooo. He was a worthy coadjutor for some
years of Richard Cobden, John Bright, George Wilson, and
other pioneers in the early days of the agitatioa He made
no pretensions to oratory. His speeches were brief, quaint,
witty, and sensible, interspersed with a few sentences in the
Lancashire dialect, and always to the point . I have a
vivid recollection of attending one of the earliest meetings
of the Anti-Com-Law agitation, held in the first Free
Trade Hall (the present one being the third), at which
John Bright spoke before he was M.P., and John Brooks.
The audience had to stand; there were no seats. The
room was not more than half fiill, and the rain was
dripping through the roof here and there. There was a
little sympathy and a little enthusiasm, the tide was just
beginning to tum; but I often contrast that meeting with
the last occasion on which John Bright spoke on the same
spot
Another large firm of calico printers whose warehouse
was also in High Street, but higher up on the opposite
side, was that of Fort Brothers, their works being at Oaken-
shaw, near Accringtoa Their principal manager at the
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30 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
warehouse was Mr. Fred. Brooks, a well-known musical
man, living at Prestwich. He played the organ at Prestwich
Church, and in consequence came a good deal in contact
with the Earl of Wilton, who took considerable interest in
him. Like many other musical men, he was careless as to
his health, and was cut off in his prime. I well remember
a short time before his death hearing him express his regret,
and his determination to turn over a new leaf. Another
large firm was that of Ainsworth, Sykes, and Co., whose
works were at Clitheroe, their warehouse being in Cannon
Street Some years after they took some works at Garratt,
near to Brook Street The firm of John Dugdale and
Brothers, who 50 years ago were calico printers, still carry
on business as merchants. Their warehouse was in Cannon
Street, and their works near Burnley. Mr. John Dugdale
resided at Richmond Hill, Greengate. No one who passes
along Greengate to Broughton Bridge to-day could suppose
that two or three comfortable and respectable large de-
tached houses existed on the left-hand side in that locality
fifty years ago. Such, however, was the case, Mr. Lockett,
the well-known engraver to calico printers, occupying the
next house to Mr. Dugdale's. In 1835 Mr. Dugdale was
induced to become a candidate for the representation of
Salford in Parliament, in opposition to Mr. Joseph
Brotherton. During my apprenticeship Dentith sold his
retail business to Horatio Miller, a gentleman from London,
to whom I was turned over. Miller became intimate with
Dugdale, and I was induced to join Mr, John Hadfield, a
solicitor, in canvassing for Dugdale. Of course we were un-
successful. I think this was my first and last time of under-
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MR. JOHN DUGDALE. 3 1
taking such a task. Some time during the election, Dugdale,
who was a blunt, plain-speaking Lancashire man, was chaffed
by an elector as to his wealth, when he replied, "Ay, I
fairly stink o' brass." For many years after he was known
in Salford as " Owd Stink o* Brass." He afterwards left
Richmond Hill, and went to reside at a pleasantly-situated
house on the bank of the Irwell, near to Eccles. In 1834,
he purchased for ;^7,Soo the old Union Clubhouse, at the
Infirmary end of Mosley Street, on the left-hand side going
down, next to Mr. Daniel Grant's house. He was an in-
timate friend of Sam Brooks, the banker. Many are the
tales which were told of the little friendly tricks they played
on one another ; as, for instance, that Sam Brooks, having
a pony to sell, informed Dugdale that a pony was to be sold
by auction at the Star Yard, and suggested to him that he
should buy it. The latter, supposing he was to buy it for
the banker, did so, paying a good price for it On going to
the bank and seeing Mr. Brooks, he said, " Well, Sam, IVe
bought thee that pony," when he was informed that he had
misunderstood the suggestion, which was that he should
buy it for himself, but that he (Brooks) knew the pony very
well, it having once belonged to him, and he was sure that
John Dugdale would be pleased with his bargain.
I suppose that everybody has heard of Hoyle's prints and
Hoyle's printworks. Whether or not their prints were as
popular "6fty years ago as they have been more recently I
cannot say. I find the firm has been in existence the greater
part of a century, if not quite a century. In 181 1 the works
of Thomas Hoyle and Son were where they are to-day, the
warehouse being in Watling Street, and Mr. Thomas
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32 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Hoyle's residence at Ardwick, Fifty years ago the ware-
house was in Friday Street, next door to Fletcher, Burd,
and Wood's, and Mr. Hoyle's house at Mayfield, near the
works, which one may easily imagine was a more airy and a
pleasanter situation than at present. Another well-known
printworks \vas Barge's, at Broughton Bridge, the firm being
John Barge and Co., and their warehouse being in Peel
Street. Mr. Tom Barge, one of the partners, was well-
known, and resided in Roman Street, Stony Knolls. Mr.
John Fildes, once M.P. for Grimsby, was a cashier in
their service. The works of Lomas and Bradbury were
in the neighbourhood, the entrance to them being on the
left-hand side of Strangeways, going towards Broughton.
Mr. Lomas was the inventor of a method of printing
calicoes on both sides alike.
In 1829 the firm of Edmund and Robert Peel, calico
printers, had their warehouse in Watling Street, at the
comer of Friday Street. They were successors — though
not the immediate successors — of the first Sir Robert Peel,
who began business about 1770, when only twenty years
of age, and who married the daughter of Mr. Yates,
who subsequently became his partner. In 181 1 their
warehouse was in Peel Street, the firm then being Peel,
Yates, Halliwell and Co., the street being named no
doubt after Mr. Peel; whilst the last-named partner
gave the name to Halliwell Lane, Cheetham Hill, he
having built the first two or three large houses on the right,
in one of which he lived. More than forty-five years
ago I learnt from an old gentleman, who was formerly
a draper in Hull, that when he first came to Manchester
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SCRAMBUNG FOR PRINTS. 33
to buy goods, Peel's warehouse was approached by an
avenue of trees. The cart was in the habit of bringing a
load of prints on three mornings in the week— Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays — from the works. The warehouse
doors were not opened till nine o'clock, by which time the
prints were all arranged in the saleroom. A crowd of
drapers was generally waiting for the doors to be opened,
when they would rush upstaurs to the saleroom, and a
scramble for prints would ensue, each draper making a pile
on the floor of such prints as he had chosen, and waiting
for the entering clerk coming round to look them over and
enter them. What a contrast with the state of things to-
day ! No wonder that the first Sir Robert Peel is said to
have died worth ;^3,5oo,ooo, and that the firm of Peel,
Yates, and Halliwell used to pay ;£4o,ooo annually to the
excise for duty on printed goods.
Many firms entitled themselves calico printers who were
not really such, but who either purchased patterns from a
pattern designer or employed their own designer. They
bought calico, had it bleached, and forwarded it to some
printworks to be printed with their own design. Others,
again, who both on their invoices and their signboards,
called themselves calico printers, were merely dealers in
prints. I rather think the firm of Robert Turner, jun.,
and Co., who fifty years ago had a warehouse next to that
of Wood and Westhead, in High Street, and who were
entitled calico printers, were amongst the first-named. I
have mentioned that on the site of the Queen's Hotel there
stood three or four large brick houses, in one of which
Mr. Houldsworth, M.P., lived. The door of the comer
D
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34
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
house was in Piccadilly, and in it Mr. Robert Turner
resided He kept a stud of racehorses as well as Mr.
Houldsworth, and wais the brother of Mr. William Turner,
of Pot Shrigley, the father of the young lady who was
abducted from school by Edward Gibbon Wakefield.
Robert Turner, of Piccadilly, followed Wakefield and Miss
Turner to France and brought her home again. It was
clearly proved on the trial that there had been no cohabita-
tion, and she afterwards became the wife of Mr. Legh, of
Lyme. Her father was reputed to be immensely wealthy,
but at his death this was proved to be an error.
Four or five doors from Turner's warehouse was that of a
very large and respectable firm of calico printers, whose
works were at Rhodes, near Middleton — that of Daniel
Burton and Sons. They began business somewhere about
the beginning of the present century, but have ceased to
exist more than thirty years. Mr. Daniel Burton was the
father of the late Dr. Burton, the founder and rector of All
Saints' Church, who was at the beginning of his career a
Methodist preacher, the other members of the family being
also devoted Wesleyans. Daniel Burton had three other sons,
John, George, and James Daniel Fifty years ago, John
was the factotum of the trustees of Oldham Street Chapel
and George became a Wesleyan local preacher. At the
time when rioting was so fashionable amongst the working
classes, there was once a riot at the Rhodes Printworks,
when one of the sons despatched a messenger to Man-
chester for the assistance of the cavalry. Accordingly a
troop of Scotch Greys galloped over and quelled the riot
A few Sundays after, in the little Wesleyan Chapel, on the
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C. AND B. POTTER AND CO. 35
preacher reading his text, " What must I do to be saved ? "
a shrill voice from one of the congregation answered the
question by exclaiming, " Send for th' Scotch Greys."
The firm of Charles and Edmund Potter and Co. began
their business rather more than fifty years ago, their ware-
house being then in Fountain Street and their works at
Dinting, near Glossop. Though Charles has only been
dead a few years the name of the firm was changed to that
of Edmund Potter and Co. many years ago, and still exists
at the present day. Edmund at that time lived with his
mother in Oxford Road, a little this side of All Saints'
Church, but on the opposite side and near to Dr. Burton,
the rector. As is well known, he was M.P. for Carlisle for
some years. Besides those printworks in the inunediate
vicinity of Manchester already named, may be mentioned
those of Hedley, Atkinson, and Co., at Broughton Grove,
behind the present Grove Inn, Higher Broughton, which
was not then built The works of Otho Hulme and Sons
were at Spring Vale, their warehouse being at the lower
end of Cannon Street, near to that of Potters and Norris.
Nearly opposite to it was the warehouse of William Grant
and Brothers, I suppose the best-known firm of calico
printers which Manchester ever produced. They were in
business at the beginning of the centtuy as merchants, but
afterwards became calico printers, their works being at
Ramsbottom. At one time William Grant resided in Lever
Street, but afterwards lived near the works. Fifty years ago
the firm consisted of William and Daniel, the latter residing
in the fourth house on the left-hand side of Mosley Street
going down. He went to live there about the year 1815, and
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36 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
resided in that street till his death, long after other residents
had been driven away and wholesale places of business had
taken almost entire possession of the street In 1848 he was
living lower down the street, having moved to another house
a little past the warehouse occupied by the late firm of
Carlton, Walker, and Co. In less than twenty years the
character of the street had completely changed, so that
Daniel Grant's house was the only private residence re-
maining in it, if we except those of two or three medical
men at the lower end of the street, and which of course
cannot be spoken of as private residences. He died at a
good old age ; and, in addition to those I have akeady
named, he affords another instance of the longevity enjoyed
by many who have lived for many years in the very heart of
Manchester.
I never saw William Grant but once; but as Mr. Miller
had occasional business transactions with the firm, I some-
times saw and had opportunities of speaking to Daniel It
is said that Charles Dickens in his description of the
Cheeryble Brothers in Nicholas Nkkleby, has attempted to
pourtray the members of the firm of William Grant and
Brother. If so, as it regards their generosity, benevolence,
and goodness of heart, I consider he has drawn a true
picture, but all the rest is mere caricature. From what I
remember of Daniel Grant I should say he was anything
but loquacious, and was rather reserved and dignified in his
manner, though condescending, considerate, and very kind
to all he had to do with. I well remember how proud I
was one morning when, my master having learnt that they
were wanting concentrated lime juice at the works, he sent
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DANIEL GRANT. 37
me to the warehouse to see Daniel Grant and make him an
offer of some. To my delight he ordered about a hundred
pounds worth. In giving me the order he wasted no words,
and yet he did it so kindly that I have never forgotten the
circumstance. In later years he used to arrive at his ware-
house about ten or eleven o'clock, and usually came in his
carriage. By the time of his arrival a number of poor
people had gathered at the warehouse door awaiting his
arrival When his carriage drew up they would divide into
two lines, forming an avenue from the carriage to the
warehouse door through which Ife passed. If he did not
distribute his alms to them himself he would send a clerk
out to them, and I believe they seldom went away
unrelieved.
The process of impressing cotton fabrics with a pattern in
colours was not confined to calico, but was extended to
cotton velvets. The material mostly used as a pigment was
chrome yeUow, of which, I remember, we used to sell a
great deal to the firm of Jackson, Watson, and Greg, whose
warehouse was in the neighbourhood of Watling Street A
large trade was done in these printed velvets, though what
became of them, whether they were used for coats and
waistcoats in the agricultural districts, or were exported, I
cannot say. At the time when the Anti-Com-Law agitation
was at its height, and a suspicion lurked in the minds of
many, especially amongst the supporters Of Protection, that
Sir Robert Peel was undergoing a process of conversion, and
was about to bring in a measure of free trade in com, and
whilst the country was anxiously awaiting some sign from
him, Mr. Charles Ramsay, of Ancoats Vale, printed a
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38
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
pattern consisting of an ear of com with the stalk and a
flowing blade or leaf. On this blade was printed the word
** FREE." He forwarded a piece of it to Sir Robert Peel,
asking his acceptance of it as a piece of printed cotton
velvet, but without drawing his attention particularly to the
nature of the design. Sir Robert, of course, gracefully
accepted it, and thanked the donor. In a very short time
a paragraph went the round of the papers describing the
pattern, and reporting Sir Robert's acceptance of it Infer-
ences were drawn, and the Protectionist party were up in
arms, but the storm was ftistantly quelled by Peel's return-
ing the piece to the donor with an explanatory note.
I have in my possession a small portion of this piece of
printed velvet which was the cause of so much commotion,
which I had given to me at the time, and have religiously
preserved ever since.
In travelling from Buxton to Manchester, after passmg
New Mills, a beautiful valley on the right opens to our
view, and in it a cluster of white buildings is seen. These
are the Strines Printworks. The Strines Printing Company
have occupied a prominent position in Manchester for
many years. Fifty years ago their warehouse was in Mul-
berry Street, Deansgate, which was then a very nondescript
sort of street The Roman Catholic Chapel was there,
having since undergone considerable architectural improve-
ment in its external appearance. Attached to it were the
residences of the Revs. Henry Gillow, Daniel Heame, and
John Billington. The street was then as narrow as it is
now, but nearly all the old buildings having been replaced by
modern warehouses (one of which is the large handsome
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JOHN WHITEHEAD AND SONS. 39
block erected by Mr. John He3nfyood), it has lost its dingy
character and put on a brighter aspect. It then contained,
besides the warehouse of the Strines Printing Company,
five others, several private dwellings, and the tap of the
Hope public-house. One of these houses was the residence
of Mr. Addison, a silk mercer and haberdasher, of King
Street ; one was occupied by Mr. James Parry, a portrait
painter; one by a tailor, and another by a dressmaker;
whilst one or two, it was whispered, were houses of ques-
tionable repute.
Mr. James Bury has supplied the following account of
other large firms of calico printers. Messrs. John White-
head and Sons had their works at Breightmet, near Bolton.
Their warehouse was nearly opposite Grant's, and like it,
was one of the old family residences of which the street was
then composed, and having only a few years before a row
of trees facing the dwellings along each side of the street
John Whitehead was a crofter or bleacher at Levenshulme,
but towards the close of the last century he began calico
printing at Breightmet, and lived at Ainsworth Hall Early
in the present century the business devolved on his three
sons, John, James, and Thomas. The latter lived at Bank
House, Bolton ; whilst James lived in Piccadilly, in one of
the two houses now the Mosley Arms Hotel; Whitehead's
doorway and hall being now Boyd's, the stationer's shop.
A sister, Miss Mary Whitehead, lived in her own house in
Mosley Street, at the comer of York Street, her neighbour
at the other end of the row being Daniel Grant Common
report pictured these two for man and wife, a picture which
it need hardly be said was never realized. The lady bought
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40 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
an estate at Bumage, and there built a mansion which she
named Brook Flat Subsequent to her death, it was called
Bumage Hall, and was lately rented by Mr. Samuel Watts.
Another daughter, Mbs Sally Whitehead, married an attor-
ney of Manchester named Redhead.
James Whitehead was the holder of original ;^ioo shares
in the Old Quay Company, which were, years after his
death, sold for several times their original value. He was
one of the directors of the company. One of the pleasures
of the directors was to take a day's voyage down the river
to Warrington, dining on board their own boat There is
still on the river a flat named " The Whitehead"
The firm was very successful and amassed great wealth,
one pattern alone, called the "Bird's-eye,'* realizing upwards
of thirty thousand pounds. It was a circle with two lines,
one blue and the other white, on a chocolate ground It
became as famous as Tommy Hoyle and Son's "lilacs," and
there was scarcely a village dame in the kingdom who did
not feel proud of her " bird's-eye " print gown. Of aU the
great wealth of this family of the Whiteheads only Bumage
Hall Estate is held by a Whitehead, a widow, the remainder
being taken by females to others or dissipated
Another firm was Samuel Matley and Sons, whose ware-
house was the first door in New High Street from Tib
Street, now the entrance to Rylands and Son's. The family
lived in Mosley Street, now John L. Kennedy and Co.,
No. 47. One of the sons, "Sam," was a Manchester
^*buck," a fine, handsome, gay young fellow.
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THE BEALEYS, BLEACHERS. 41
CHAPTER IV.
BLEACHERS, DRYSALTERS, AND HOOKERS-IN.
T^HERE were several large bleachworks in the neigh-
bourhood of Manchester, amongst which might be
named those of the Bealeys, at Radcliffe, near Buiy, and
the Ainsworths, at Halliwell, Bolton. The ancient name
for a bleacher was a '^ whitster," and the business seems to
be as old as the cotton trade There are not many firms,
either manufacturing or otherwise, which are in fuU opera-
tion to-day, and can look back to an uninterruptedly
prosperous career of at least one hundred and thirty years,
through father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-
great-grandfather. The large and flourishing bleaching
concern of Richard Bealey and Co., at Radcliffe, however,
is in this proud position. The first lease of land and build-
ings for their bleachworks is dated May 26, 1750, and re-
cites the previous occupation of the lessees. The convey-
ance is from James Marsden to William Bealey, Richard
Bealey, and Joseph Bealey, since which time they or
their descendants have constantly occupied the works as
"whitsters." Joseph was the second son of William, and
was the great-grandfather of the present head of the
firm. Joseph's son Richard succeeded to the business in
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42 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
paitnership with his brother Ralph, their warehouse being
in Bank Street, and, in accordance with a custom referred to
previously, their inn was the White Horse, Hanging Ditch.
In 1811 Richard was in partnership with his son Adam,
as Richard Bealey and Son, their warehouse being in New
Cannon Street Richard died in 181 7, and was succeeded
by Adam, who did not live many years after. He had
married a Chester lady, whose sister became the wife of the
Rev. Dr. Warren. She survived her husband many years,
and carried on the business in her own name as '' Mary
Bealey.'' In 1829, the time these notices specially refer to,
her warehouse was in Birchin Lane. Both she and her
husband were strongly attached to the Wesleyan cause.
Amongst that body few ladies have been as widely known,
and as deservedly respected, on account of her noble deeds
and many virtues, as Mrs. Mary Bealey. Her daughter
married the well-known Wesleyan lawyer, Mr. Percival
Bunting, who retired from Manchester to London a few
years ago. Her eldest son, Richard, is now at the head of
the firm, and is a county magistrate. I believe there is a
probability of the business being perpetuated in the family
many years longer; and one cannot but wish for the family
as long and as prosperous a career in the future as they
have enjoyed in the past
Having spoken of calico printers and bleachers, it is
not possible to avoid a passing glance at the Drysalters,
the interests of the two being so united. They were an
active and intelligent class. What a flutter they used
to be in on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings,
when the printers' carts arrived each with a load of
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DRYSALTBRS. 43
prints, and with requisitions for certain drugs and dry-
salteries wanted at the works, to be sent back in the
carts. Like the busy bee gathering honey from every
opening flower, they were quite as busy going from
door to door of the print warehouses, showing samples,
giving quotations, and gathering orders. The most pro-
minent figure of that busy band was the late William
Benjamin Watkins, afterwards Mr. Alderman Watkins, who
with his robust frame was to be seen on these occasions
trudging about with quick, firm step, dressed in buckskin
knee breeches and top boots. By some of us juveniles (and
I fear by others too) he was irreverently designated '' Buck-
skin BiUy."
Poor Gregson, the author of ''Gimcrackiana," has hit ofi*
what I have described : —
Dear drysalters ! who on accustomed roand
Each Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday are found,
Skipping up warehouse steps with action smart :
" Good morning, sir I Pray have you had a cart ?
Is there aught wanting for the works to-day 7
Promptest attention shall our porters pay.
Our drugs are excellent, and you well know
That at this time they are extremely low.'*
I know not whether the institution of " hooking-in " still
exists, or whether, owing to the march of civilization, it has
been abolished. Fifty years ago it was in a very flourishing
condition. Hookers-in abounded at every street comer.
In the days when there were no railways, and men had to
use the more tedious mode of travelling by stage coach, a
journey to Manchester and back was a more formidable
affiur. Country drapers from distant places could not then
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44 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
run over to Manchester, buy goods, and return in a day.
Hence they came here seldomer, but stayed longer and
bought more largely at once. Living then in Market Street,
I had opportunities of seeing the hookers-in swarm about
the doors of the Thatched House Tavern, the White Bear,
and similar inns every morning, besieging the head waiters,
who were pretty well fee'd, with the view of ascertaining
who had arrived over night Many were the tales which
were told of them. One was that an old and a young
stager in different lines were talking together at the ware-
house door of the latter, when a gentleman passed, on which
the old stager said to the other : '' That is Mr. So-and-so,
from Leicester; he is a laige buyer in your way." Away
went the young one after the gentleman, and presenting his
card, begged him to turn in and look round, with the
assurance that they had some goods very cheap which would
exactly suit him. He did his work so well that there was
no resistance, and Mr. So-and-so followed to see the stock.
Casting his eye roimd the first room, he quickly assured the
salesman that there was nothing in that room in his line.
So with the next, and so with the next At last the question
was put to him, "What line is yours?" "Oh," replied
he, " I am David Bellhouse, the timber merchant" One
well-known gentleman of this class was Mr. Joseph Scott,
familiarly known as Joe Scott He was a smart, well-dressed
man, with a dash of the aristocrat in his appearance. I
have heard it stated that he was once sent to London by his
employers on a special mission, which only required his
presence there for a day or so. He went to an ordinary inn
and announced himself as "Lord ." Shortly after
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HOOKERS-IN. 45
the waiter pointed him out to another gentleman as
"Lord ," when he was much astonished by the
reply, "That ! ; why, thafs Joe Scott, of Manchester."
It used to be said that the firm of William Grant and
Brothers was the first to employ hookers-in, and the first to
give up the use of them.
Mr. Thomas Brittain has contributed the following re-
miniscence of hookers-in : — " My connection with the Man-
chester trade fh)m 1831 to 1845 brought me frequently in
contact with the 'hookers-in,' as they were familiarly called,
and I knew many of them personally. They were known
to each other pretty generally by nicknames. One of the
most successful of them was a Mr. Peel, who was known as
Sir Robert PeeL Another, a Mr. Lewis, was reported to
have made an attempt on his own life; he was named
Sudden Death ever afterwards. Previous to this one of the
hookers-in had obtained the name of Murder — I cannot
remember why — ^and another the name of Battle; so that
amongst this interesting fraternity there were 'Battle,
Murder, and Sudden Death.'
"The more successful of the hookers-in obtained excel-
lent remuneration for their services. One of them was said
to receive a thousand a year, and I am inclined to believe
it They were not a long-lived race, for the daily discharge
of their duties brought them into continual connection with
the hotels, where they had to treat their clients ; and then
by a kind of commercial necessity, they were compelled to
drink more than was good for them. I have a lingering
respect for the fraternity. Amongst them were many
excellent fellows, but it is not to be regretted that railways
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46 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
and other changes in business life have caused the hookers-
in (as I formerly knew them) to become things of the past'*
Before quitting those subjects which are more im-
mediately connected with the Manchester trade, it may
be well to remark that at the time I speak of it was
customary to lock up the warehouse during the dinner
hour; keeping it open was the exception, not the rule.
Then the circumference was nearer the centre, Manchester
had not spread itself out as it has done since, and the
homes of the employes were nearer the scenes of their
labour. There were few who did not go home to dinner,
and hence there were hardly any restaurants such as now
abound on every hand. There was no Saturday half-
holiday, and both master and man made much longer
hours than is now the practice. In busy times it was no
unusual thing to be at business till ten or eleven o'clock,
and even twelve, on Saturday nights as well as other nights.
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MEDICAL MEN.
47
CHAPTER V.
DOCTORS.
TN 1829 there were twenty-two physicians practising in
Manchester, and 104 surgeons, making a total of 126
medical men. It is not possible now to divide them into
two distinct classes, as was the case formerly. Then,
medical etiquette prohibited a physician performing a
surgical operation, however trivial The physician was
quite distinct from the suigeon. At present there are in
Manchester 270 medical men, many of whom, though pos-
sessing the tide of M.D., are practising as surgeons. I
calculate there are 30 gentlemen who are pure physicians,
158 who are pure surgeons, and 82 who, though they
have the title of M.D. (conferred by a Scotch or
Irish college), practice as surgeons. Four of the phy-
sicians of half a century ago were in practice at the
latter end of the last century, namely, Dr. Banks, who
then lived in Market Street, removing afterwards to
George Street ; Dr. Michael Ward, who resided in King
Street, and afterwards in Downing Street; Dr. Mitchell,
living in Piccadilly; and Dr. S. A. Bardsley, uncle of
the late Dr. James L. Bardsley. The former of the
two was residing in Chatham Street, Piccadilly, in 1794,
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48 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
and continued to do so till about 1827. The elder
Bardsley eventually gave up the house in Chatham Street
to his nephew, who began practice some years before,
and the uncle retired to Ardwick Green. The late Dr.
J. L. Bardsley received the honour of knighthood about
twenty-five years ago, and eventually went to reside in
Greenheys, but retained the house in Chatham Street for
consulting rooms to the time of his retirement At the
beginning of the present century, what is now the lower end
of Mosley Street, from Bond Street to St Peter's church,
was called Dawson Street, and in it Dr. Hull lived, who in
1829, was one of the leading physicians in Manchester.
Dr. Edward Holme, F.KS., was a vice-president of the
Literary and Philosophical Society, and lived in King
Street, and Dr. Davenport Hulme, who was one of the
physicians to the Infirmary, lived in Mosley Street, both of
tdem enjoying a large practice.
It is impossible to call to remembrance the medical men
who were in practice in Manchester half a century since
without being struck with the fact of the longevity of many
of them, notwithstanding that they lived in the very heart
of Manchester during a great part of their lives, as in the
case of the late Mr. Turner, proving, as I think, that our
good city is not the unhealthy place some people would
represent it to be. The elder Bardsley lived to be a very
old maa I well remember him as a slender, tall, old
gentleman, with his head bent forward in walking ; whilst
Sir James was far advanced in life when he was called away.
The same observation is true with respect to the others X
have named— Drs. Hull, Davenport Hulme, Holme,
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MR. JOHN WINDSOR, F.L.S. 49
Banks, Mitchell, Ward, and to two other leading physicians
of that day, Drs. Lyons and Jarrold. In a former notice I
mentioned the case of Mr. Bloor, now of Southport, who
lived seventy-^o years in one house in Piccadilly. The
next house but one to his was the residence of Mr. John
Windsor, F.L.S., an old and much-respected surgeon. He
began practice in the same house in 1815, and after living
there fifty-three years, died in 1868, in his eighty-second
year. He was a native of Settle-in-Craven, and the author
of "Flora Cravoniensis," to which the Athenautn lately
referred in complimentary terms. In the early part of his
life he was a member of the Society of Friends, and lived
highly esteemed not only by the members of that body
but by others who knew him. Soon after he began prac-
tice he was appointed one of the surgeons to the Eye
Institution, with Mr. WOson and Mr. Barton, and was
consulting surgeon to it at the time of his death. One of
his sons is a member of the City Council, and another
follows his Other's profession. Our respected fellow-towns-
man, Mr. J. C. Needham, married one of his daughters.
Another octogenarian who was practising fifty years ago
is Dr. Radford, then living in King Street He is now in
his eighty-sixth year, and is to-day taking as active a part in
the duties connected with St Mary's Hospital, in which he
has always taken the liveliest interest, as if he were a young
man. He attended my brother in his last illness. Nor are
these the only instances of such remarkable longevity in the
medical men of half a century ago. Some time during the
first decade of the present century Mr. John Johnson
Boutflower began practice in Greengate, Salford. About
s
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50 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
the year 1823 he took his son into partnership, and both
were practising fifty years ago. Mr. John Boutflower, the
son, is still living, and though in his turn he has a son
who assists him, yet I believe he still practises. I am
not aware of his exact age, but a surgeon who has been
in practice at least fifty-six years must now be a very old
man. Another instance is that of Dr. Harland, who fifty
years ago lived in Salford; and having many patients in
Manchester, as well as in Oldham, Rochdale, and other
towns, he used to meet them at 21, Market Street, where I
was an apprentice, and where he called every day. He was
then a bachelor and an intimate friend of Mr. John
Dugdale, whose niece he eventually married. He retired
from practice some years since, and is now, I think, a little
over eighty years old, and enjoying a peaceful old age at
his residence in Greenheys. His son is curate of Stretford.
The late Mr. Roberton, who had a large practice, died a
few years since at an advanced age. Fifty years ago he
lived in King Street, which it will be seen was then very
popular with medical men as a place of residence. The
late Mr. R. T. Hunt, who also attained an advanced age
and died a few years ago, lived in Gartside Street, at the
time we speak of. He was then assistant surgeon to the
Eye Institution, and at the time of his retirement fi-om
Manchester to Disley, which took place a few years before
his decease, he held the position of surgeon to it
The late Mr. Joseph Jordan, who attained such eminence
both as a surgeon and as a lecturer on anatomy, began
practice prior to 18 14, and at one time was in partnership
with Mr. Blundstone, at No. 4 Bridge Street, where he was
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LEADING SURGEONS.
51
in 1829. Mr. Jordan lived to a great age. The late
Mr. Heath, who had a large practice, and who also lived
to be an old man, was living in Cooper Street at the time.
Mr. James Braid, who made a great stir at one time by
his lectures on and practice of animal magnetism, was living
in Piccadilly, but afterwards removed to St Peter's Square.
Amongst the leading surgeons were Messrs. John and
Robert Thorpe, James Ainsworth, John A. Ransome, and
W. J. Wilson. John Thorpe, the father of Robert, was then
the oldest surgeon in Manchester, and was practising several
years before the close of the last century. His house was
then in Cock Gates, Withy Grove, a place we should now
think very unfit for the residence of a surgeon^. In 1829 he
was. living in King Street; whilst his son, who began
practice somewhere about the year 18 14, lived in Oldham
Street Robert (or, as he was familiarly called. Bob)
Thorpe I remember very well ; as well as James Ainsworth,
to whom my master once sent me with some slight accidental
injury. The latter began practice about the year 1808, at
the upper end of King Street. After residing there more
than forty years he died at Cliff Point, Broughton. Mr.
J. A. Ransome was practising in Princess Street in 1810,
and after some years removed to St Peter's Square, where
he was eventually succeeded by either his son or nephew
Joseph. There were at this time two members of the
medical profession as well as two druggists members of the
Society of Friends — Mr. Ransome and Mr. Windsor.
Another suigeon practising at this time in Manchester
was Mr. Charles Greswell, living in Great Ducie Street, son
of the Rev. W. P. Greswell, incumbent of Denton. The
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52
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
latter was a quaint-looking little old gentleman, well known,
I believe, as a very learned man, who had another son in
the Church, the author of some important works. Mr.
Samuel Barton, who afterwards rose to eminence, was then
living in Mosley Street He retired from the profession
many years ago, and after an absence from Manchester for
a time returned, residing at Bankfield, near the entrance to
Manley Park, where he died a few years since. A little
higher up Mosley Street, on the opposite side, was the
residence of Mr. Thomas Ashton, who, though he never had
a large practice, was well known amongst the literary and
scientific curcles of Manchester. He eventually took the
degree of M.D., and retired some time ago from Manchester.
A few years since I had the pleasure of meeting him, and of
finding him well His £sither, who was the bread baker
of the day, at No. 3, Piccadilly, was a wealthy old gentleman,
having made a considerable fortune in his business. Owing
to the very superior quality of his bread, for which he got a
higher price than any other baker, he had almost a
monopoly. He will be remembered by many, no doubt,
as a big and very old man, moving about very slowly, with
the weight of years bowing him down, and his feet encased
in a huge pair of shoes. At the dose of the last century he
had a shop in High Street.
I have mentioned the late Mr. Thomas Turner else-
where, and the age to which he lived. His career was
a remarkably successful one from the first. Fifty years
ago, his prescriptions, commg to be dispensed, were neither
few nor far between. I well remember his neat hand-
writing at that time, the style of which altered so little with
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MR. THOMAS TURNER.
53
advancing years. Independently of his ability, the secret
of his success was not far to seek. He was remarkably
genial and kindly in his manner, and always brought sun-
shine into a sick room. If a poor fellow was down, he
would try to lift him up. If a patient thought it was all
over with him, he would try to cause " hope eternal " to
spring up in his breast He preached the doctrine that it
is not work which kills men, but worry. He acted on it,
and proved the truth of it, for he was never worried,
worked to the last, and died at a very advanced age.
A well-known surgeon half a century ago was Mr. Benja-
min Roberts, who began practice in Brazenose Street about
the year 1812. He removed to Stevenson Square, and
theii to a house at the comer of Lever Street, and Back
Piccadilly. He was the brother of Mr. John Roberts, the
well-known stationer of Market Street. Their father was
one of the early Methodist preachers sent out by John
Wesley, beginning his labours in 1759, and was appointed
one of the ministers of Oldham Street Chapel in the years
1774-5 and 1799. Exactly opposite, in the same street,
lived another suigeon, who had a fair share of public
confidence, Mr. Thomas Fawdington. He was one of the
surgeons of what was then called " The Lying-in Hospital"
In Salford, besides Mr. John Boutflower, Mr. Gardom and
Mr. Thomas Brownbill enjoyed for many years extensive
practices, and held the offices of surgeons to the Salford
Dispensary. The £sither of the latter was a large brick-
maker, first in Manchester and afterwards in Salford. He
helped to level the mount on which the present Quaker's
Chapel was built, by making the clay portion into bricks.
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54
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Anyone acquainted with the medical men of Manchester
fifty years ago will not think a notice of them complete
without some mention of Mr. Heurtley, who practised as a
surgeon for nearly half a century, residing during that time,
first at the Infirmary, then in Spring Gardens, and after-
wards in Oldham Street, where he died at an advanced age.
At the beginning of the present century he was House
Apothecary at the Infirmary, and afterwards went into
j)ractice. He lived and died a bachelor, and was rather
/" remarkable both in appearance and dress, wearing panta-
loons made after the fashion adopted by the dandies of a
former period — ^fitting tight round the calf, and finishing off
above the ankle. He set himself up as a great wit, and was
very fond of punning. If he said a good thing which took,
he never rested till he had related it to all his friends to
whom he could gain access, and to some of them more than
once. Not only so, but he took a great delight in pro-
claiming to everybody that he was an unbeliever in the
inspiration of the Bible and the truth of Christianity. The
consequence was that his practice was very limited, though,
no doubt, his ability was great
Besides the foregoing I well remember the following : —
Mr. Jesse, of Downing Street, Ardwick, who had a large
practice; Mr. Robert Crowther, of Longworth Street, who
removed into Quay Street ; Mr. Gavin Hamilton, of Port-
land Street, who went to reside in Burlington Street,
Chorlton Row, then a new neighbourhood, and who married
Miss Ward, the actress, a daughter or other relative of
Mr. Ward, the teacher of music, of Ward and Andrews ;
Mr. George Femeley, of St Peter's Square ; Mr. Grindrod,
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DOCTOR SCHOFIELD. 55
of Oxford Road, now practising as a hydropathic physi-
cian, I believe, at Malvern ; and Dr. J. P. Kay, in King
Street This gentleman attained considerable eminence
both in his profession and as an author. He wrote the
"History of the Cholera" in 1832, and, besides other works,
one on Asphyxia. He retired from practice to become
president of the Poor Law Board, assuming the name of
J. Kay-Shuttleworth, and was made a baronet The present
Sir U. Kay-Shuttleworth is his son.
I must not omit to notice two or three men who, though
they had not received a professional training, enjoyed a
large share of public confidence — the first in the practice of
physic, and the second in that of surgery. I refer to the
Rev. James Schofield, and Mr. Edmund Taylor, "the
Oldfield Lane Do<4or." The former was formerly the
minister of the chapel known as Christ's Church, near the
barracks, in Hulme, and at the time we speak of was the
minister of a similar chapel in Every Street, Ancoats.
Patients from all the country round used to apply to him,
and he had the reputation of curing the ailments of many
who had been given up by the regular practitioner. He
was very popular amongst the working classes, and took an
active part in politics, being one of the leaders of the
Radicals of that day, and a coadjutor of Henry Hunt, to
whom a monument is erected in the burial-ground attached
to his chapeL
The Oldfield Lane Doctor came from Whitworth, near
Rochdale, to Manchester sometime during the first decade
of this century, leaving either two or three brothers behind
him known as the Whitworth doctors, who were as popular
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56 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
as Edmund Taylor afterwards became in Salford. He
appears to have made a name for himself shortly after his
settlement in Salford; for in the "Directory" for 1811 his
name is entered thus: "Taylor, Edmund, Oldfield Lane
Doctor, Oldfield Road, Salford" It is said that the Whit-
worth doctors had been celebrated for two or three genera-
tions. The whole family seem to have had a gift in that
line, the female as well as the male members of it A sister
of Edmund Taylor married Mr. Maden, a wealthy gentleman
and a magistrate, residing at Bacup, and she gratuitously
practised the healing art amongst the poor to a late period
of her life I remember, when a youth, spending an evening
at her house with my father and mother, when she gave
them an account of her labours, stating that she devoted
her mornings to this charitable work, having a dispensary
fitted up for the purpose, and that the average cost of her
drugs and medical appliances was jQ^o a year.
I used to be very fond of watching old Edmund Taylor's
operations, and have spent many an hour in his surgery,
frequently on a Sunday afternoon, for he was then always
to be found at work. It was most interesting to watch
the various cases of accident and forms of injury which
presented themselves. The sui^ery, which had been a large
kitchen, having a stone floor, a fireplace, and some benches
round it, was at the back of the house, and opened into a
large yard. Anyone could go in or out as he pleased, with-
out any notice being taken, as the old gentleman attended
to one thing at a time, and seldom noticed anybody or any-
thing but the patient he had in hand, or the one thing he
was doing. He went through his work at one uniform
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THE OLDFIELD LANE DOCTOR. 57
pace, and was never hurried or excited by anything. A
great many patients were generally waiting their turns, and
occasionally there were spectators like myself, but I was
always struck with the decorum and stillness which pre-
vailed. Though the old doctor would sometimes crack a
joke with a patient, he seldom spoke in a loud voice, and
there seamed to be a tacit understanding amongst those
present to preserve quiet Hanging up were several skins
of leather, ready spread with a brown kind of plaister, from
which occasionally he cut long strips with which to bind
up some broken arm, dislocated shoulder, or other injured
part. On his shelf were a number of stone bottles, about
the size of ordinary medicine bottles, which were filled with
a peculiar liniment, for which he and his brothers were
celebrated. It was known as the " Whitworth Red Bottle,"
and seemed designed for universal application. Of this they
used to dispense large quantities. Spirit of turpentine
was one of the ingredients, and I remember, during my
apprenticeship, once sending Taylor a large puncheon of
that drug. He was assisted, at one time, by a son who died
of consumption. His place was taken by a sister, after-
wards Mrs. Ridehalgh.
A third, who was more of a quack, was the so-called
Dr. Lignum, of Bridge Street, who was afterwards joined by
his son. His real name, I believe, was Wood, and he chose
to assume the Latin word for wood. He was the proprietor
of a celebrated quack medicine, which is still sold, known
as "Lignum's Antiscorbutic Drops."
The Pharmacopoeia of fifty years ago contained the
names of 444 drugs and their preparations, whilst that of
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58 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
to-day contains the names of no fewer than 802. The
former did not contain the names of quinine, morphia, or
iodine, three of the most commonly used drugs of the
present day. In fact, so frequently are they prescribed in
one form or another, that one wonders how the doctors
managed without the two latter. Quinine was in use to a
certain extent, though it was not officially sanctioned ; but
where one grain was then used I believe a hundred are
now. The system of treating many diseases has indeed
been completely revolutionized Speaking generally, the
practice used to be to pull down the system ; now it is to
build it up by a freer use of quinine and other tonics. But
in nothing is the change more striking than in regard to the
then common habit of blood-letting, as it was called. I
suppose that in the last century it was even more common
than it was at the time we speak of, so that if a person fell
down in the street from exhaustion he was sure to be bled.
Though the practice was becoming more restricted, yet it
was very prevalent fifty years ago. I well remember my
brother suiTering from rheumatic fever, and seeing Mr.
Gardom, one of the best surgeons in Salford, draw a basin
full of blood from his arm — z. thing which no sane medical
man would do in the present day. Not only was the lancet
used in this way, but cupping and the application of leeches
were continually resorted to in cases of inflammation, which
it was supposed impossible otherwise to subdue. It is no
wonder if the doctors prescribed such treatment that the
public believed in its utility. It was no uncommon thing
to be told by persons that they found it conducive to their
health to be bled periodically, and that such treatment was
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BLOOD-LETTING, 59
necessary for them. I remember a neighbour in Market
Street, a thin, delicate-looking man, who used to believe in
the necessity of periodical blood-letting, and who, if I asked
him how he was, would sometimes reply that he had not
been bled lately and did not feel very welL He would
accordingly be bled. No wonder that he died in the prime
of life.*
Fifty years ago the profession of dentistry was in its
in&ncy. Then Manchester only contained six or seven
dentists ; ta<]ay there are over one hundred and twenty.
The three principal ones were Messrs. Richard Helsby, in
George Street ; John Faulkner, near the Wesleyan Chapel,
in Oldham Street ; and Faulkner and Son, at the comer of
Back Piccadilly, on the left-hand side of Lever Street
* The case of Malibnui, who died after first being bled, vrill be referred
to in a succeeding chapter.
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60 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER VI.
DRUGGISTS.
r7IFTY years ago there were only sixty druggists in
Manchester and Salford ; to-day, their number ex-
ceeds 260. So that whilst the doctors have increased in
that time a little more than 100 per cent, the druggists have
increased about 330 per cent. Not one of the sixty who
were then in business as druggists is so now ; whilst, so isx
as I can ascertain, only two out of the whole number are
living. These are Mr. Eli Atkin, of Newton Heath, and
Mr. William Hyde Lamb. Mr. Atkin was an apprentice in
the same shop as myself, but had completed his apprentice-
ship before I began mine, and was then in business, in part-
nership with Mr. Dale, as Dale and Atkin, in Swan Street
He afterwards relinquished the retail business, and became
a drysalter and manufacturing chemist Mr. Lamb was then
a druggist in Shudehill, but shortly after removed to the
comer of Lower Mosley Street and Windmill Street, and
for some years was a member of th« Town Council. He is
now an estate and property agent, having an office near his
old shop, but on the opposite side of the street
The oldest member of the trade, at that time, was
Mr. Daniel Lynch, who about the year 1790 began business
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A TKINSON AND BARKER. 6 1
in Market Street, near what is now the end of Corporation
Street, but which, of course, did not then exist He after-
wards removed to the opposite side, higher up, next door
to the Commercial Hotel, where he was in 1839. I have
before stated that he held the chief office in the fraternity of
Freemasons. There was another druggist who was in busi*
ness in the last century, and whose name was retained
in the firm of Atkinson and Barker, though he had retired
from it before 1829. Mr. John Atkinson was in business
in 1790 in St Mary's Gate, and afterwards went into
partnership with Mr. Robert Barker, occupying the shop
at the comer of Market Place and St Mary's Gate,
which was pulled down a few years ago to make way for
the splendid pile now occupying that and the adjacent
ground, and which was at the time of its demolition in the
possession of Messrs. Mottershead and Co. Mr. Atkin-
son was the inventor of that well-known mother's friend,
" Infants* Preservative," which, we are informed, has re-
ceived the patronage of royalty. When I first knew the
shop, the firm had two assistants, who eventually went
into partnership and opened a shop in Market Street, the
firm being Ingham and Westmacott They afterwards
dissolved partnership, and both have since passed away.
Mr. Westmacott was a relative (nephew, I believe) of the
sculptor of that name, and had a taste for the art himself.
At the time of his death his shop was at the comer of
Market Street and Corporation Street, where he left a son
as his successor, who also has artistic tastes.
Next door to Atkinson and Barker's, in the Market Place,
was the shop of Mottershead and Brown. About tlie year
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62 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
179O9 Thomas Staines was carrying on business, as a
druggist, in the Market Place, his house being at White
Cross Bank, Salford. In 1815 he was in partnership with
Mr. Mottershead, the firm being Staines and Mottershead,
which was succeeded in a few years by that of Mottershead
and Brown, and which existed fifly years ago. At that time
Mr. Brown was dead, and shortly after the business was
carried on in the name of John Mottershead. He was a
descendant of the Rev. Joseph Mottershead, who was
mmister of Cross Street Chapel 54 years, commencing his
ministry in 171 7, and who died at the age of 83 years. I
oflen had occasion to go to the shop, and remember Mr.
Mottershead very well He was a plain and homely man,
both in his dress and manner, and, being a bachelor and
living on the premises, he had an ancient-looking house-
keeper, who used occasionally to come limping into the
shop to see how its occupants were getting oil .1 heard it
stated that she was the first person in Manchester who
made fermented ginger beer in bottles. Mr. Mottershead
had at that time two apprentices, one of whom, Thomas H.
Taylor, afterwards began business in St Ann's Square,
where he continued many years. A few years since he
relinquished it for another branch of business. The other
apprentice was a nephew of Mr. Mottershead's, Thomas
Roberts, who was afterwards taken into partnership, the
firm being Mottershead and Roberts, and the business was
continued by Mr. Roberts after Mr. Mottershead's death.
More than thirty years ago, Barker, the successor of Atkin-
son and Barker, relinquished the retail business, when the
comer shop, which was a larger and more convenient one
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OLD DRUGGISTS. 63
than Mottershead's, was taken by him. The business was
carried on by Mr. Roberts till the premises were pulled
down, when it was disposed of to the two gentlemen who
had so ably managed it for him, and who removed it to
premises under the Exchange, Mr. Roberts having become
the senior partner in the firm of Roberts, Dale, and Co.,
manu&cturing chemists, Combrook. I well remember both
Mr. Taylor and Mr. Roberts when they were youths behind
Mottershead's counter.
The names of several of the druggists of that day are
still perpetuated, namely. Lynch, Mottershead, Jewsbury,
Bullock, and Goadsby, though the men themselves have
been dead some time, and have no descendants now in the
business. Mr. Francis Goadsby. father of the late Alder-
man Goadsby, was then a druggist in Chapel Street, his
shop being on the Manchester side, between New Bailey
Street and Blackfiriars Bridge. Another venerable Salford
druggist of that day was Mr. William Brearey, whose shop
was then at Pendleton. He had a shop previously in
Market Street, and afterwards removed from Pendleton
to Upper Brook Street Contemporary with the elder
Goadsby and Brearey was Mr. James Brereton, who evi-
dently believed, as well as his successors, that ''a rolling
stone gathers no moss,'' for, about the year 1810, we find
him keeping a shop at the comer of Cateaton Street and
Smithy Door, where I knew him in 1829, and which he con-
tinued to keep for many years. He was succeeded by his
son. who in his turn was succeeded by Mr. Hughes, the
present occupant So that the old shop has only changed
owners twice in about seventy years. Another druggist who
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64 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
began biisiness about the same time was Mr. John Cook ;
his shop was in King Street, a little lower down than the
Old Exchange entry, on the same side. I remember it in
1829, as it presented a rather old-fashioned appearance,
having bow windows with small panes of glass. There was
also another druggist's shop then in King Street on the same
side three doors from Deansgate, and next to Townsend's,
the music seller, occupied by Mr. Daniel Bullock. So that
King Street then contained two druggists, though there is
not one there now.
Oxford Road had only one, Mr. Thomas Sigley ; whilst
there was only one in the whole of Hulme. That happy
individual was Mr. Robert Middleton, of Chester Road.
Of course the Stretford Road was not then constructed.
There were four in the Market Place. Besides Atkinson
and Barker and Mottershead, there was George Vaughan,
who was also a seedsman and began business at the begin-
ning of the century, his shop being in the comer next to the
Blue Boar court Nearer to Market Street was Mr. Gilbert
Blackberd, also a druggist and seedsman, in the shop
now occupied by Mr. Henry Watkinson, the seedsmaa
Mr. Thomas Watkinson, an elder brother, succeeded
Mr. Blackberd, and after some time gave up selling drugs,
confining his trade to the other branch. He died several
years since, and was succeeded by his younger brother.
Market Street at that time possessed four druggist's shops,
their owners being Stocks and Dentith, Daniel Lynch,
Robert Halstead Hargreaves, and Jewsbury and Whitlow.
The most popular street with druggists was Piccadilly,
which then contained six, two of the number being sons of
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JEWSBURY AND WHITLOW. 65
Weslejan ministers. The first shop which was so long
occupied by Mr. Standring, and which has only just been
pulled down to widen the entrance to Tib Street, was then
occupied by Mr. John Williams Gaulter. His father was
the Rev. John Gaulter, who in the early part of his career
was a contemporary of Wesley, at which time his name used
to be spelt Gaultier. In my early days he resided for a
time in Manchester, and I remember his tall and handsome
figure and venerable appearance, dressed in the costume of
the day with knee breeches, black stockings, and silver
knee-buckles. His son was a very gentlemanly man, and
began business about the year 18 12. When I first knew
him his assistant was Mr. L. Simpson, who afterwards began
business in Princess Street, his shop being the first opened
in that street. It was thought at the time to be rather a
rash undertaking, but it succeeded. He retired many years
ago, when he disposed of his business to Messrs. Ransome
and Co.
Previous to this, Gaulter had two apprentices named
Jewsbury and Whitlow, who ultimately went into partner-
ship, beginning business about the year 1825, in the shop
over the door of which the name of one of the partners
is still retained It was one of three or four which
had just been rebuilt, and were then called " Egyptian
Buildings.'' Mr. Jewsbury's father was a yam agent, and
also agent for the West of England Insurance Company,
and was the father of the two authoresses. Miss Jewsbury
(afterwards Mrs. Fletcher), who died in India, and
Miss Geraldine Jewsbury, the novelist. Jewsbury married
his partner's sister, whose mother kept the George and
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66 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
Dragon Inn, at 4he comer of York Street and Fountain
Street The house was sold some time after her death, and
the premises taken for the South Lancashire Bank, long
since defunct
About the year 1824 there was a hosier's shop at the
comer of Swan Court, in Market Street, occupied by Mr.
James Townsend. During some extensive alterations which
were being executed at the next shop, some injury was done
to the foundation of Townsend's shop. One Saturday after-
noon a man going past was startled by the falling of bricks,
and he shouted to Townsend waming him of danger. The
latter had just time to escape, with his bag of money in his
hand, when the building fell. Fortunately just at this time
the shop (now No. 27) which had been occupied by Mr.
Bentham, a bookseller, who had removed to the Market
Place, was at liberty, and to this Townsend removed. After
carrying on business some years longer he retired, and dis-
posed of it to a Scotchman named Brown, who had resided
in Manchester for some years. Mr. Brown had several chil-
dren, and amongst them a bright, bonny-faced boy, called
William Scott, who he was ambitious should become a
druggist Accordingly, when William was old enough, he
was sent to Mr. John Lessey's, in Piccadilly, but did not
remain long there, and was bound an apprentice to Messrs.
Jewsbury and Whitlow. After some time they dissolved
partnership, Whitlow going to Liverpool and Jewsbury
retaining the business. For many years before Jewsbury*s
death, owing to some spinal injury, he lost the use of the
lower extremities, and could not attend to business. He
wisely took into partnership his former apprentice, then an
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yAAfES WOOLLEY. 67
assistant, who still survives to render services to his fellow-
townsmen in various public capacities, as William Scott
Brown.
I mentioned in a notice of Market Street, that in 1829
the alterations connected with the widening of the street
were not complete, and that there was still standing on the
left-hand going up, an old pile of buildings, the footpath in
front of which was much higher than the carriage way. One
of the shops in this old pile was that of Mr. Hargreaves,
already mentioned, who began business there in 1796. He
was also a drysalter, and had been a chemical manufacturer,
in which he made a large fortune. I was often sent to him
to inquire what he would charge us for some article which
we had not in stock. As sure as I did so the old gentle-
man would seize a duster and commence a polishing
operation on his counter-top. Whilst doing this he would
mutter a complaint that my master was spoiling the trade
(referring to the drysaltery) by cutting down the profits and
underselling him. Then, after another rub or two, he would
gruffly give me the information I sought In due time the
old buildings came down, and were replaced by the present
ones, which stand on the site. Mr. Hargreaves retired firom
the business about 1844, and was succeeded by the late
Mr. James WooUey. Three doors from Gaulter's, in Picca-
dilly, was the shop of Mr. Samuel Dean, a druggist ; and
when I came to Manchester Mr. James WooUey was just
completing his apprenticeship with Dean. I remember him
calling to see the assistant in the shop where I was one
Sunday afternoon about that time. He eventually opened
a shop in King Street, near to the one now occupied by
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68 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
Messrs. Wilson and Co., the ironmongers. When Mr. Har-
greaves retired, Mr. James Woolley purchased his business.
He was for some years a member of the Town Council,
and greatly respected by all who knew him. He did not
live to be an old man, and his business is carried on by three
of his sons, who have greatly extended the wholesale branch
of it, as well as the premises occupied by their fietther.
There were two druggists then in Manchester who were
quakers. One of them was Mr. W. Ansell, whose shop was
in St Mary's Gate. He was a clean, pleasant-looking little
man, very precise and methodical in his manner, and just
the sort of man to inspire you with confidence in his
accuracy. His was the only place then in the town where
chemical apparatus could be purchased. He was succeeded
by Mr. Dale, now of the firm of Roberts, Dale, and Co.
The other quaker druggist was Mr. George Danson, in
Piccadilly, his shop being between the houses of Mr. Bloor,
the pawnbroker, and Mr. John Windsor, the surgeon. A
little lower down, and three doors from the Albion, was
the shop then occupied by the late Mr. Thomas Standring,
who afterwards removed to that which had been Gaulter's,
and which has so recently been pulled down. It may be
interesting here to state that fifty years ago the late owner
of the site gave ;;^3,5oo for it, and it was recently sold to
the Corporation for ^f 22,500.
I have mentioned the name of Mr. John Lessey, in
Piccadilly, to whom young William Scott Brown was first
sent to learn the mysteries of a druggist's shop. He was
the son of the Rev. Theophilus Lessey, one of the early
Wesleyan ministers, and had a brother Theophilus, also a
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ELLEN THORP.
69
Wesleyan minister, known as one of the most eloquent
preachers of the day. Next door to John lived another
brother, a surgeon. The sixth druggist in this street was
IVIr. R. Woodall.
Not only was there a noted surgeon, named Robert
Thorpe, in Oldham Street fifty years ago, but there was also
in the same street a noted druggist, named Ellen Thorp,
who was quite as popular in doctoring women and children.
In 1794 there were two lady druggists in Manchester, one
being "Ann Cooke, druggist and seedsman, 27, Market
Place/' and the other Ann Thorp, apothecary, 45,
Oldham Street She had a son, Issachar, who acquired a
knowledge of the business when a young man, and who
afterwards became a calico printer, having a warehouse in
Fountain Street, and who, on the death of his mother, took
her business. For a few years he had both businesses on
his hands, and I doubt not that his wife Ellen assisted him
at this time in the shop, and so became sufficiently ac-
quainted with its duties to be enabled to follow them up
after his death. The shop of Ann Thorp, in 1794, was a
black and white half-timbered old house. Ellen Thorp,
on the death of her husband, continued the business, which
is still carried on by her successor.
About the year 1822 Mr. John Stocks, who had a shop
previously at the cpmer of Thomas Street and Oldham
Street, removed to Market Street The shop to which he
removed is now No. 41, but owing to a different method of
numbering the streets, was then 21, and is the shop in which
I served my apprenticeship. At the time Mr. Stocks re-
moved to it, Mr, Eli Atkin was his apprentice, and Mr. Atkin
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70
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
informs me that there was at that time a tradition in the
place that it was the oldest druggist's shop in Manchester.
I have no means of tracing its history further back than
1794, at which time its occupant was George Buxton Brown.
Soon after the beginning of the present century the business
was transferred to William Wilson, who retained it till John
Stocks became its possessor. Stocks took into partnership
William Dentith, who had been a traveller for David Taylor
and Sons, and the firm became Stocks and Dentith, but had
not existed long before Stocks died. When I was an
apprentice the premises belonged to a Mr. G. B. Brown, of
Halifax, I presume a son of George Buxton Brown, who
was there in 1794. After the death of Mr. Stocks, his
widow retired from the business and I was bound an
apprentice to the new firm of William Dentith and Co., my
father paying down jQioo zs my premium. Mrs. Stocks,
who was the sister of our almost octogenarian friend,
Mr. Benjamin Rawson, of Ardwick Green, afterwards mar-
ried Mr. Heap, a large stonemason, who built the steeple of
St Peter's Church, which at first was without one for some
years. He also built SL Matthew's and Stand Churches,
but unfortunately got involved in a law suit for extras with
the Church Commissioners, which he lost I understand
Mrs. Pochin, the wife of the M.P., is his grand-daughter.
Dentith had two other apprentices when I entered his
service. The elder of the two was the son of the late Rev.
Dr. Warren, and brother of Mr. Samuel Warren, Q.C., the
author of " Ten Thousand a Year." He afterwards entered
the service of Pole and Co., merchants, of London, who
had a house at the Isthmus of Darien, to which he was
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A UTHOI^S APPRENTICESHIP. 7 1
sent, and where he died shortly after. The second was
Henry Blaine, the son of a retired draper at Hull After I
had been rather more than two years with Dentith, he sold
his retail business and went altogether into the wholesale,
taking Blaine with him and leaving me with his successor.
Shortly after my apprenticeship terminated, Blaine made
overtures to me to go out with him to the Cape of Good
Hope. I went to consult my father, who was at the time
attending the Wesleyan Conference at Birmingham, travel-
ling all night by the Red Rover coach. He in his turn
(unwisely, as I thought) consulted a missionary named Kay,
who had just returned from the Cape. The result of a five
minutes' conversation with him was, that Blaine went out
without me, founded the house of Blaine Brothers, and
became the Hon. Henry Blaine, member of the Upper
House of Legislature at the Cape.
A druggist's apprentice in those days had to work both
harder and longer than at the present day. My master
being a large soda water maker, I had the advantage of
learning that branch, at which for the two first years of my
apprenticeship I worked pretty hard. At that time there
were only three makers of soda water in Manchester —
Gaulter, in Piccadilly ; Thompstone, in Cupid's Alley ; and
my master. In the shop was a soda water fountain, firom
which soda water was drawn by means of a strong glass
globe, the mouth of which fitted tightly on to a nipple, and
out of which it was poured into a tumbler ready for drink-
ing. On one occasion Blaine was drawing a glass for a
customer when the globe burst and laid open his cheek,
thereby slightly disfiguring him for life.
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72 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
After I had been with Dentith between two and three
years he sold his retail business to Mr. Horatio Miller, of
London, to whom I was bound over. Miller had been for
some years an assistant with Godfrey and Cooke, of London,
who were at that time the principal West End chemists, and
had most of the aristocracy as customers. He afterwards
went one or two voyages on board of a whaleship as medical
attendant, which would be illegal in the present day. He
had seen much of life, having mixed a good deal with London
society, and was not long in Manchester before he made the
acquaintance of a number of the professional and literary
men of that day, with others of congenial tastes, whom he
gathered around him. He was a believer in the fact that
your grand stately '' spreads " do not always yield the most
pleasure, and preferred snug and less ostentatious social
gatherings. Moreover, being a bachelor, he had no fear of
the consequences if sometimes he brought in a friend to
partake of a little "plain family dinner" without notice.
After a while he seemed to become rather partial to me,
used to read Shakspere and other authors to me after
business hours, and often permitted me to be present when
entertaining one or two of his friends, whose society I used
greatly to enjoy.
Chief among these was Mr. Henry B. Peacock, the
elder, better known as Harry Peacock, who was, I believe,
one of the founders of the Prince's Theatre. Fifty years
ago he had a tailor's shop in King Street, but had removed
at the time I knew him into St Ann's Square. I used to
delight in his company, as his conversation abounded in
wit, humour, and anecdote. In a diary I then kept for a
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WILLIAM BRADLEY, THE ARTIST. 73
short time I find his name frequently mentioned. Another
frequent visitor was Charles Swain, the poet, whose dark
lustrous eyes and intellectual conversation I well remember.
Charles Wilkins, the barrister, occasionally dined with us.
Though he afterwards became Serjeant Wilkins he did not
attain to great eminence at the bar, and died after a some-
what brief career. He was known to his friends as anything
but an affluent man. His forte was in addressing juries.
To hear him was a rich treat, as he told them that it was
now his " turn, under the direction and correction of the
learned judge, to place the fiacts of the case before them,"
rolling his words out with delightful smoothness and
distinctness.
Mr. Miller was also on intimate terms with Charles
Calvert and William Bradley, the artists. I mentioned some
time since in the City News that on one occasion Miller
had promised to take a young lady to the flower show at the
Town Hall, and that being prevented doing so he requested
me to supply his place. She was Calvert's daughter, and
became Bradley's wife, but at the time of my writing I had
forgotten in what relation she stood to Bradley. After my
reference to her in the City News she wrote me a kind
letter, from which I may be allowed to give the following
extract : — " I was the young girl you so kindly escorted to
the flower show, and Mr. Miller, of Market Street, was a
very kind friend of my father's, and visited at our house in
Princess Street The time of going to the flower show was
prior to my marriage. I afterwards visited, along with my
father, Mr. Miller's house, taking tea and spending the
evening there, admiring the flowers he so prided himself
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74 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
in arranging in vases ; and the circumstance is impressed on
my memory in consequence of Mr. Miller so much admiring
a gold chain I wore for the first time, being the first present
from Mr. Bradley, and which he put round my neck just
before I set out for Mr. Miller's house." Those who have
felt any interest in the notices of William Bradley which
have appeared in the City News will not be sorry to read
another extract from the same letter. The writer says : —
''Long years have passed since I saw you. I have been
eleven years in Sydney, N.S.W., with my present husband,
my two daughters, and my eldest son ; and having acquired
a comfortable competency after all the tossing of fortune,
or rather misfortune, I am now settled down in this place "
(naming a small town on the banks of the Thames).
Other visitors at Miller's house were Mr. Lot Gardner,
of High Street ; Mr. Joe Marsland, cotton merchant, of
Cockpit Hill ; Mr. Edward Saul, of the firm of Gardner,
Harter, and Co., diysalters; Mr. William Hatton, iron
merchant, Blackfriars Street ; and Mr. George Condy, the
barrister. The latter was the son of an Irish Wesleyan
minister. He had very little practice at the bar, but was
one of the commissioners in bankruptcy, and for some years
was editor of the Manchester and Salford Advertiser^ at the
time Mrs. Leresche was its proprietor, and its office was at
the comer of Spring Gardens and Market Street
Mr. Miller having resided so long in London, and having
as I have said mixed a good deal in London society, had
become acquainted with many of the leading actors of the
day. Accordingly when any of them came to Manchester
he found them out and invited them to visit hinL I have
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MACREADY, DOWTON, 75
a distinct remembrance of once dining with Charles Kemble,
and of the pleasure I felt in assisting him to vegetables.
Macready was also a visitor at Miller's house when he
came to Manchester. I have a vivid recollection of his
coming in one morning having, in passing a newly-painted
lamp-post, daubed the sleeve of his coat It was a single-
breasted brown overcoat, and I had the pleasure of helping
him out of his difficulty. The manner of his thanking me
was most polite and courteous, and the tone of his voice so
striking that I used to think that if I heard the same words
again uttered by the same voice, blindfolded, I should
recognise it.
Dowton was another visitor. I suppose he was the finest
representative of Falstaff of all who ever attempted the
character. He was, in the early part of his career, a con-
temporary and a colleague of Mrs. Jordan, the intimate
friend at one time of William IV. I have preserved a note,
written by Mr. Clarke, the manager of the Theatre Royal,
to Condy, the barrister, which I presume had been handed
to Miller in explanation of Clarke's absence. There is no
date to4he note, but it will be seen the dinner party was on
a Sunday. The following is a copy of the note : —
My Dear Sir, — I am on the doctor*s list, and cannot leave house
to-day. Wai you have the kindness to make my apology to Mr. Miller,
with whom I was to dine, and say that I very much regret not being
able to meet him ? Dowton relies upon your good offices to show him
the way to the dinner table ; he is domiciled at No. 70, Falkner Street 5
Andrews on door.— Yours very truly,
Sunday morning. Rt. Clarke.
— Condy, Esq.
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76 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Andrews was a performer at the Theatre Royal, and took
the characters of old men. He was the father of Mr.
Andrews, of the firm of Ward and Andrews, professors of
musia
Horatio Miller afterwards relinquished the drug business,
and went into partnership with Mr. Robert Hindley, the
brewer, Miller's Lane, Salford, sometimes known as Bob
Hindley, and sometimes as Captain Hindle}', from his having
held the rank of captain in the Volunteers of a former
period.* Afterwards Miller went to Fleetwood and then to
Southampton, as agent for one or two steam-packet com-
panies. The last I heard of him was that he was connected
with the exhibition of the great Globe in Leicester Square,
during the Great Exhibition of 185 1, and that he had a trial
with Mr. Wylde concerning it, and had lost his case. He
occasionally indulged in writing poetry, of which I retain
several specimens, and was somewhat of an adept at
sketching and modelling. I have in my possession a carica-
ture pen and ink sketch which he made of Dentith's head,
which is a capital likeness. After finishing my apprentice-
ship I remained with him, at his request, as an assistant for
two or three years, when we went into partnership together
as soda water makers, the business being carried on in my
name.
Altogether, my old master was not an ordinary man, and,
in looking back, I think of him with the liveliest interest
* In 1833 Mr. Hindley was elected president of the club known as
*' John Shaw's,'' and held the office till 1852, when he resigned, being
82 years of age.
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HEV, JAMES EVERETT. 77
CHAPTER VII.
BOOKSELLERS.
TN 1829, the first bookseller's shop you met with coming*
up Market Street on the left-hand side was that of
James Everett He was originally a Wesleyan minister,
and, owing to a throat affection, he became after a time
what is technically called by the Wesleyans a supernumer-
ary, and entered into business for some years. He then
re-entered the Wesleyan ministry, and in the year 1849
finally left the body. His shop fifty years ago was near the
present end of Corporation-street, but he afterwards re-
moved higher up to a shop near the end of New Cannon
Street As I used to make for him ten gallons of ink at
once, and take it to him, I remember him well, being
generally met by some quaint remark as to the quality of
the ink. He resided in a kind of square, called Sedgwick's
Court, which turned out of Deansgate, on the river side,
between St Mary's Gate and the Old Bridge. I recollect
having been sent to his house one Sunday morning early
with a request that he would preach at Oldham Street
Chapel that morning. He was a popular preacher, and
author of several works, the most noted of which were
"The Life of Sammy Hick, the Village Blacksmith," and
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78
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
the WesUyan Takings, which last was published anonymously.
There was one which he published about sixty years ago,
which made no small stir at the time, and of which the
publication was suppressed, I believe. Hence I find the
recollection of it has nearly passed away. One of the
earliest things of the kind which I can remember is the
handling of a copy of this work, which my father possessed,
and looking at one of the illustrations. It was called The
Parson and the Cat, and was intended to take off the
•parson-hunting tendency of the age. It was cast in the
"John Gilpin" mould, and. narrated in verse how a certain
parson, returning home disappointed of his day's sport,
espied a lad with a cat and induced him to set poor puss
down and let the dogs be after her. The instinct of the
cat induced her to get as far out of the way of the dogs as
she could by clambering up the hind quarters of the horse,
then up the back of the rider, then on to his head. There
was a picture of the scene of the hat and wig of the rider
flying away, and the cat setting her claws on to the bald
head of the poor affrighted and tortured parson.
The next bookseller's shop on the same side was that
of Ebenezer Thomson and Sons, who occupied the shop
No. 20, at the corner of Cromford Court, next to the one in
which I was apprenticed, which was then No. 21, the num-
bers running consecutively at the time. In 1790 the same
shop was occupied by James Thomson, bookseller. In
1 8 10 it was divided into two shops, one being occupied by
James Thomson and Son, the son being Ebenezer, who
lived at the back of New Windsor, Salford. In 18 15 the
shop was restored to its original dimensions, and Ebenezer.
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EBENEZER THOMSON AND SONS. 79
had the business to himself, the father having retired, and
residing at " Cheetham Cottage Town/' Red Bank. In
1824 the firm was still Ebenezer, but in 1829 it was, as I
have stated, K Thomson and Sons, and a year or two
after was changed to James and Joseph Thomsoa They
were known as dealers in books on mechanics and the
various branches of civil engineering as well as general
literature, their stock of new and second hand books being
one of the laigest in the provinces. Their printed catalogue
in 1829 extended to something like 600 octavo pages, and
contained the names of 20,000 volumes. They dealt also
in stationery and stamps and did a good business in book-
binding. The younger brother, Joseph, died some years
since, but I had the pleasure of meeting with James three
or four years ago, when he was staying at the same hotel in
Southport as myself, his residence bemg near Bowness.
The next bookseller to the Thomsons was W. Dean,
near to the end of New Cannon Street. In 1 810 the shop
was next door to that of Mr. Hargreaves, the druggist, and
kept by R. and W. Dean. In 18 15 they had removed to
the corner of Brown Street, where they remained some
years, but in 1824 there was only William in the concern;
and in 1829 the business had crossed over to the other side
of the street again. When the Deans were at the comer of
Brown Street they printed the Manchester Directory for
Pigot, and published it conjointly with him, Pigot being at
that time merely an engraver and not a letterpress printer.
James Pigot was an engraver in Back Faulkner Street in
1 794, and afterwards removed to Fountain Street where he
was at the time I came to Manchester. At that time his
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8o MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
son was in partnership with him, the father living in Polygon
Avenue, Ardwick, and James, the son, behind the premises
in Fountain Street
The next bookseller's shop or stall, between the shops of
Watson, the trunk-maker, and Hargreaves, the druggist, in
the old part of Market Street not yet pulled down, was that
of old Weatherley, about whom so much has been said in
the columns of the City News,
In proceeding up Market Street, we next come to quite
a nest of booksellers, all close together, the first of whose
shops was that of Thomas Forrest His history, in one
respect, is interesting, inasmuch as he came to Manchester
to seek his fortune, with a fellow-journeyman printer, named
Jeremiah Gamett, of whom I shall have more to say shortly.
They worked together for a while on Wheeler's Chronicky
and when the Manchester Guardian was established Mr.
Gamett joined it, ultimately becoming a partner. Forrest,
sometime about 1822 or 1823, took a shop in the Old
Exchange Passage, where he printed a history of Wales for
Mr. Cathrall, the then editor of the Chronicle^ and, about
1828, removed to the shop adjoining the then Brooks's
Bank, in Market Street He was the only bookseller who
would allow the publications of the Unitarian body to lie
on his counter. He had a good business in printing and
stationery, which, after some changes, passed, in 1853, into
the hands of his former apprentices, Messrs. Johnson and
Rawson, who have somewhat extended it, and carry it on
in the same premises.
After passing the shop of Mary Lowe and Co., tailors,
and the Old Palace Inn, the next shop at the comer of
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JOHN ROBERTS. gl
Palace Street,- was that of Mr. John Roberts, a large
stationer. He was the son of one of Wesle/s early coadju-
tors, and brother of Mr. Benjamin Roberts, the surgeon, of
Lever Street. Being an intimate friend of my father's I
knew him well, and have spent many days at his house in
Piccadilly, next door to Mr. Bloor's, and opposite the end
of Portland Street, when a boy, on a visit with my mother.
He began business about the first year in the present
century, and I have heard it stated that his father, being
stationed at the time at the Oldham Street Chapel, after the
service there one week evening, announced to the con-
gregation that his son had begun business in Market Street,
as a bookseller and stationer. His business was noted as
the oldest stationery business, and also for the enormous
number of bill stamps which he sold, disposing, I believe,
of more than all the other dealers in them in Manchester
put together. He was a very upright tradesman, very
genial, lived to a good old age, and stuck to business nearly
to the last, leaving behind him a handsome fortune. He
had an only son, Thomas, who was remarkably corpulent
for so young a man. He died a few years after he was
married Mr. Roberts did a large bookbinding trade, which
was practically managed by Mr. John Leigh, who married
Mr. Roberts' relative and assistant. Miss Andrews, and
who succeeded him in the business. After his retirement
Mr. James Cheetham took the business.
Three doors higher up -the street was the shop of
Mr. Charles Ambery. He was, perhaps, more of a seller of
books than any hitherto named He had not been in this
business long before 1829, having been a joiner previously,
G
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82 MASXHESTBR FIFTY YEARS AGO.
but being connected with Bennett Street Sunday School —
with which Mr. Benjamin Braidley was also associated —
the latter provided him with the means of beginning busi-
ness as a bookseller, for which he had already manifested a
taste. He was well supported by Church people and did a
large trade. I have occasionally seen what has been a very
handsome Bible and Prayer Book bound together, in the
hands of an elderly married lady, which was purchased at
his shop before she was married
Next door to Mr. Ambery was the shop of Mr. John
Royle, the stationer. I well remember him as a very old
man. In 1810 he was in Deansgate, and in 1815 he was
lower down Market Street, near the shop which is now
Darbyshire's, the confectioner's, his house being in Hodson
Street, SaUbrd After that he went still lower down, occu-
pying a site near the present omnibus company's office.
From there he went into the Market Place, where he was
in 1824, but at last reached the shop at the comer of
Marsden Square, where he was when I was an apprentice.
Crossing over the end of High Street, we next came to
the bookshop of T. S. Gregson, the first shop in Egyptian
Buildings, Jewsbury and Whitlow's being the second, and
Miles Craston's, the hatter, being third Gregson was the
author of a book which is now becoming rare, called
'' Gimcrackiana," composed mainly of poetic and humorous
descriptions of Manchester men and things, a specimen of
which was given in a previous chapter on "Hookers-in." Poor
Gregson gave way to a little failing, and his shop in a few
years gave him up. It appears that he was in the habit of
frequenting the Geoi*ge and Dragon, at the comer of York
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r. S. GREGSON.
83
Street and Fountain Street, and that on one occasion he was
turned out, and requested not to enter it again. At the
time, he was assistant bookkeeper at the shop of a neigh*
bouring firm, and shortly afterwards the following stanzas
were found on the flyleaf of a rough day-book in his
writing. The first is a quotation, I believe, and in th^
second he evidently tries to relieve his feelings : —
BLOWING-UP DAY.
Whoe'er has travelled life's dull round,
Where'er his toilsome journey's been.
Must sigh to think how oft he's found
His warmest welcome at an inn.
The contrary we here may trace ;
For quaffing off an extra flagon
The writer, held in sad disgrace.
Was banished from the George and Dragon.
After leaving the shop, it was taken by Mr. Benjamin
Binyon, as a confectioner, who, whilst there, opened the
Beehive Restaurant, under the Palace Inn, which was the
first extensive restaurant established in Manchester.
The last shop on the left-hand side of Market Street was
that of Joseph Gleave. He was an old Manchester book-
seller, having been in business several years before the
close of the last century, in Southern Street, a small street
which turned out of Priestner Street, in Alport Town. He
then removed to Alport Street, and thence to the comer of
John Street and Deansgat<e. This vas his principal place
of business, where he published a Hebrew Grammar, by
Dr. Bayley, "The House of Stanley," "Bennefs Oratory,"
and other works. A short time before his death, he opened
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84 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
the Market Street shop as a branch. There was a John
Gleave, a dealer in second-hand books, in 1829, not far
from Marsden Square, who, I believe, was a son of Joseph,
but who was only there a few years.
In Piccadilly, nearly opposite the Infirmary dock, was
the shop of Mr. William Ellerby, who came here in
1826, as the agent of the Religious Tract Society, but
united with the agency a general bookselling business.
He was not originally well educated, but by rare
application and perseverance he became a very well
informed man on all general literary subjects, especially
those connected with theology and the rise and progress of
Puritanism and Nonconformity. Having been a commercial
traveller for fourteen yearS; he had gathered a great deal of
historical information, which enabled him to contribute a
series of articles to the Congregational Magazine^ and greatly
to assist the late Mr. George Hadfield in the suit instituted
to recover Lady Hewle/s property, whereby it was taken
from the Unitarians and handed over to the '' Orthodox
Dissenters." He was also consulted on literary matters by
such men as the late Sir Oswald Mosley and Sir John
Bowring, when they had occasion to visit Manchester. He
revised and published an edition of Edwards "On the
Religious Affections," and also published several pamphlets,
from his own pen, on the Quaker Controversies, at the time
Isaac Crewdson and others seceded from that body. He
died in 1839. •
Mr. Thomas Sowler was a letterpress printer at the close
of the last century, in partnership with Mr. Russell, at
Hunt's Bank, the firm bemg Sowler and RusselL After a
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LOVE AJffD BARTON.
85
time they dissolved partnership, Mr. Russell joining a
Mr. Allen, and carrying on the printing business in Deans-
gate, and Mr. Sowler beginning business, as a bookseller, in
St Ann's Square. At the time I came to Manchester,
Mr. Sowler had added the publication of the Manchester
Courier to his other business. Subsequently the book trade
was relinquished, the efforts and capital of the firm being
confined to the publication of the newspaper, and to a
general job printing business.
In 1829, not far from Sowlef s shop, at the comer of Red
Lion Street and Exchange Street, the firm of Bancks and Co.
was in full swing, doing a very extensive business. They
ultimately collapsedf their failure being one of the elements
which assisted in eventually bringing down the Bank of
Manchester, to whom they were at the time indebted for
considerably more than ;;^ioo,ooo. With them was Mr.
Benjamin Love, who, with Mr. John Barton, an assistant of
Mr. Gleave's, began business as Love and Barton, in a shop
in Newall's Buildings. They subsequently removed to the
former premises of the Bank of Manchester. Mr. Love is
dead, and Mr. John Barton has retired, the business being
now carried on by Mr. Henry Barton. Mr. Love possessed
some literary ability, and was the author of one or two works,
the most important of which was descriptive of Wesleyan
Methodism, he having at one time been a Wesleyan.
Among their assistants were Thomas Roworth and William
Hale, who, on completing their terms, formed the partner-
ship which, as Hale and Roworth, began business in King
Street, subsequently removing to Cross Street A few years
ago they separated, when Mr. Roworth removed to his
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86 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
present shop in St Ann's Square, where he has a consider-
able Church connection.
George, or '' Old Bentham/' as he was commonly called
fifty years ago, had a small shop in the Market Place, doing
an unpretending but not an unprofitable business among the
market people and frequenters of the Exchange. In New-
market Buildings, near to Market Street, at the same time,
was the shop of Ann Hopps, the widow of John Hopps,
who had his shop there at the beginning of the century, and
whose name has been previously mentioned in these
pages.
James Wroe, a well-known Radical fifty years ago, was a
bookseller in Ancoats Lane. He began first with a stall in
Port Street, and succeeded so well that in a few years he
not only occupied the shop referred to, but about the year
1819 became the printer and publisher of the Manchester
Observer^ the office of which was in Market Street, near the
Sun Entry. He was so violent in his politics that he printed^
several libels on the Prince of Wales in the Observer. He
was prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to pay a heavy
fine, and to be incarcerated in Lancaster Castle for three
years. Before the expiration of his term of imprisonment
another indictment had been presented against him, and
Joe Nadin was waiting in Lancaster to serve him with
another warrant on his exit He, however, somehow
managed to escape him and got on to the Manchester
coach, but before he got to Preston, I believe in consequence
of the upsetting of the coach, he broke his arm and was
again imprisoned. This led to his ruin, for he failed in
1826, and was confined as a debtor in. the King's Bench.
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CHARLES SWAIN. 87
He afterwards complained that he had been deserted in the
hour of need by his Radical friends, some of the more
wealthy of whom had promised to make good whatever he
might lose in his advocacy of their views. He had some
time previously sold the Observer to Mr. Thomas John
Evans. He died in 1844.
Mr. Robert Robinson, who, in 1829, was a highly-
respectable bookseller in St Ann's Place, was related to the
wife of Sir Benjamin Hey wood, his son, the present Vicar
of Swinton, being named Henry Robinson Heywood. In
182 1 Robinson had a partner named Ellis; and in 1825 his
partner was Mr. Thomas Bent, who afterwards went to
London and established Bents Literary Advertiser^ as a
journal for publishers and bookbuyers. Mr. Bent married
a sister of the late Mr. John Richardson, of the Mosley
Arms, and was not successful in business. His three
daughters, the Misses Bent, were brought up by their uncle
at the Mosley Arms, and took an active part in St Ann's
Sunday Schools during the incumbency of Mr. Richardson
and subsequently.
The firm of Swain and Dewhurst were in business nearly
fifty years ago as booksellers, their shop being between the
Manchester lima office and the Dog and Partridge Tavern,
in Ducie Place. The first-named gentleman was Charles
Swain, the poet I possess a copy of Henry Kirke White's
poemsy which my master purchased at their shop, and
presented to me. They never did a large business, and
after a while Mr. Swain became an engraver and lithographer
in Fennel Street His partner, Dewhurst, continued the
book trade in Market Street In a part of the back of the
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88 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Exchange, Webb and Simms had a bookseller's shop, the
business being ultimately carried on by Geo. Simms, in
which establishment Mr. David Kelly was brought up, who
afterwards succeeded Charles Ambery It was Webb and
Simms and Charles Ambery who first introduced the system
of allowing a discount on books.
William Willis was at one time the largest bookseller in
Manchester, and was employed when a boy by an old
bookseller named Newton. He afterwards borrowed ten
pounds from his father, and set up a bookstall on his own
account This so annoyed Newton that he bought the
ground upon which his rival's stall was erected, and Willis
had to remove to a piece of ground near High Street He
was afterwards joined by a partner, who brought one
hundred pounds into the concern, when the new firm .re-
moved to a cellar in St Ann's Square. In five years the
partnership was dissolved, and he removed to another
cellar in Market Street He afterwards opened a shop in
Hanging Ditch. Owing to his carrying on the publishing
business, disaster overtook him, and he was much reduced
in circumstances. He eventually became a Roman Catholic,
abjuring many of the political opinions which he held at
one time, and died suddenly.
In 1829 there was a bookseller named Samuel Johnson
in Market Street, his shop standing on the site now occu-
pied by Hyam's clothing establishment He was originally
a spinner, in the same factory, in Ancoats, in which the late
Elijah Dixon also worked Whilst he worked in the
factory, he had a bookstall near Store Street, which he
found to answer so well that he left the facto|;]jb and took a
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LETTERPRESS PRINTERS. 89
shop near the Ancoats end of Lever Street When the firm
of W. and R. Dean failed, he bought the stereotype plates
of several works published by them. His business largely
increased, so that he was obliged to remove to other
premises in Rochdale Road, and ultimately retired to the
Isle of Man, where his son Joseph still resides, his son
Thomas still continuing the bookselling business in Cor-
poration Street
Some of the booksellers, who have been named, were
letterpress printers, and besides these and the printers of
newspapers, who will be mentioned afterwards, the names
of two or three others, who were in business fifty years ago,
occur to my mind Mr. Thomas Wilkinson had his office
in Ridgefield, where it had been since 181 7. He was
succeeded by his son, the printer of this book, who now
carries on the business at the "Guttenberg Works," at
Pendleton. Mr. George Cave had his office in Pool Fold,
afterwards taking into partnership Mr. Charles Sever. Mr.
William Preston Aston was in St Ann's Street; Mr. Joseph
Pratt, in Bridge Street ; Mr. John Swindells, in Hanging
Bridge ; and Mr. Mark Wardle, in Back King Street. But
the two, of whom I have the best recollection, are James
Patrick and Wilmot Henry Jones. The former had his
office in Cockpit Hill, just below the shop in which I was
apprenticed, and was the official printer of the racing lists
during the season. How well I remember how ten or
twenty men used to issue sometimes out o^e entry leading
to Cockpit Hill, about eight o'clock in a morning, crying
" Patrick's krekt list of the running horses, with the names,
weights, and colours of the riders." His place of business.
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90 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
in 1820, was near to Newall's shop, in Market Street He
held the monopoly of the racing business for many years.
W. H. Jones's office was at the end of Barlow's Court, it
being only divided by Mr. Ronchetti's shop from my
master's, and I used to be very fond of running in and
having a chat with him when I had an opportunity. He
was the printer of Bayley's " Festus," and was the first in
Manchester to print posters in colours. I remember calling
in once, when he told me that he had a handbill to print for
a hatter, who had solicited his aid in its composition, and
asked me to give him an idea. I told him that Lord
Chesterfield had said that if a man wore a good and well-
brushed hat and a well-polished pair of shoes, he looked a
gentleman. The idea pleased him immensely, and he
worked it into his bill
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EDWARD GOODALL AND CO. 91
CHAPTER VIII.
SUNDRY TRADERS, ENGINEERS, AND PROFESSORS.
/^N£ or two references have been made to the bxX that
^■^^ the names of many firms which existed fifty years ago
exist at the present day, although their owners are no more.
Not only so, but in several instances these old firms are
carrying on business in the same premises as they were half
a century and more since. Edward Goodall and Co., carpet
dealers, were then occupying the same premises in King
Street as now, though the shop was only half the size it is,
the comer one, which was then occupied by Mr. Robert
Gough, an ironmonger, having been added since. Mr.
Edward Goodall died only recently, being upwards of 80
years of age. Satterfield and Co. were also in business in
the same premises in St Ann's Square as were occupied by
them up to a recent date, and which are still occupied by
their successors. At the time the firm ceased to exist I
believe it was the oldest retail firm in Manchester. In what
year Mr. John Satterfield began business I cannot ascertain,
but it is certain he was in business as a linen draper on the
same site in 1794, and as there is a brass plate on one of
the pews of St Mary's Church bearing the inscription,
"John Satterfield, 1788," we may take it for granted that
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92
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
he was in business in the Square before that date. Another
old firm of linen drapers which were in business in 1829,
and are still occupying the same premises in Old Millgate,
is that of Smith, Hill, and Co. I cannot learn that they
were in business before the early part of this century, but
in 1810 William Smith and Co. were carrying on business
as drapers there, and continued to do so till about the year
1826, when William and John Hill were taken into partner-
ship. I well remember them, having reason to remember
John especially \ for my master, Horatio Miller, having gone
to London for a week, on his return informed me that Mr.
John Hill, who was a customer, had noticed my conduct
during his absence, and had told him how very attentive to
business I had been, and he presented me with a copy of
Shakspere as a token of his pleasure. Mr. William Hill
was a leading man in Salford, of which he was boroughreeve
on one or two occasions.
There was also at the time referred to a draper's shop in
Chapel Street, Salford, between the Old Bridge and Black-
friars, which is deserving of notice, inasmuch as its owner
some years afterwards became Mayor of Manchester, and
received the honour of knighthood. The late Sir £lkanah
Armitage first began business in the shop I allude to as a
draper, about the year 181 7, and some ten years afterwards
began to manufacture bedticks and nankeens, having a
warehouse in Bank Buildings, Cannon Street In a few
years the Salford business was given up, and his warehouse
was removed to Cromford Court
Fifty years ago Messrs. Hime and Hargreaves, music-
sellers — ^now Hime and Addison — ^were in St Ann's Square ;
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THOMAS AND EDWARD BINYON.
93
Mr. Henry Whaite was in Bridge Street; Mr. Charles
Meredith, the law stationer, was in Ridgefield; Mr. William
Broome, the accountant, was in Essex Street; Messrs.
Sharp, Roberts, and Co., the machine makers, had their
works in Falkner Street; Mr. Joseph Cockshoot, whose
business has been merged in the Cockshoot Conveyance
Company, was then a well-known hackney coach proprietor.
Mr. William Gibb, who will ever be remembered in Man-
chester in connection with the efforts he successfully made
to obtain the privilege of having bonded warehouses here,
was then a wine and spirit merchant in Spring Gardens.
His name is still perpetuated in the firm of Smith and
Gibb, his nephews in Oxford Road.
Another well-known firm in business here fifty years ago
was that of Binyons and Co., who had then two shops, one
in St Ann's Square, the same as now occupied by them,
and one on the right-hand side of Oldham Street The
firm then consisted of two brothers, Thomas and Edward,
who began business in 1817. Tradition says their grand-
£aither, having married Ruth Wakefield, whose &ther was a
rich banker, at Kendal, provided the capital with which
Richard Arkwright began the cotton trade. His eldest son,
Thomas, was a cotton manufacturer, and the inventor of a
cloth made from a mixture of silk and wool He was the
father of the Binyons, engaged in the tea trade, whilst his
brother Benjamin was the father of Alfred Binyon, who in
1829 was a calenderer and a coal agent, but having married
Lucy Hoyle, afterwards became a partner in the firm of
Thomas Hoyle and Sons, calico printers. Thomas and
Edward had a brother and two or three sisters, who were
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94 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
also engaged in business here at the time we speak of. The
brother, Benjamin, was a partner in the firm of Binyon and
Taylor, twine manufacturers, Peter Taylor looking after the
manufacturing part of the business, at Hollinwood, and
Benjamin Binyon being the salesman, and lodging with his
sister Deborah, who kept a ready-made linen shop in
Piccadilly. Two other sisters, Hannah and Ann, were tea
dealers, nearly opposite the end of Portland Street I
should have said that Thomas Binyon served an apprentice-
ship to a druggist, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, but not liking the
business, went to Liverpool and learnt the tea trade. It is
well known that the Binyons were all Quakers, and pos-
sessed in an eminent degree the virtues for which the
members of the Society of Friends are remarkable. The
business is now carried on, in greatly extended premises, by
George Henry Fryer, a nephew of the late Thomas Binyon,
and our friend Thomas Harrison, whose scientific status is
well known in Manchester. Several members of another
well-known Quaker family, the Labreys, were carrying on
the tea business in Manchester at that time, whilst one of
the brothers was a guard on the Peveril of the Peak coach.
An old and respectable firm in business here fifty years
ago was that of J. Fletcher and Co., com millers and
merchants, their business premises being then in Tib Street,
shortly afterwards being removed to Hanging Ditch, where
they at present remain. The founder of the firm was
Joseph Fletcher, who at the beginning of this century was
a baker, in Swan Street, near New Cross, to which business
he added that of a grocer, taking the next shop for the
purpose. In the course of time the shops were given up^
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THE CORN TRADE.
95
and the business of a com miller was carried on, at the
Albion Com MiUs, in Tib Streets to which was added that
of a cheese &ctor, and the importation of Irish grain and
butter. Joseph Fletcher died about fifty years since,
leaving several daughters, three of whom are still alive, one
of them being eighty-three years of age. Another of them
was the first wife of Mr. Charles Bradbury, the well-known
collector of antiquities, and another is the mother of
Mr. Fletcher Moss, the present head of the firm. She is
still hving, and remembers during one of the bread riots,
which occurred about sixty years ago, having to hide in the
cellar, when the shop and warehouse were broken into by
the mob. At that time flour and meal were selling at 120
shillings per load of 240 lb&, and the principal food of the
working classes was barley meal and oatmeal, the fomier
being an article of food which the poorest will scarcely
touch now. On one Saturday about this time forty loads
of it were ''scaled" out in small lots as food to the
customers.
Another old firm of com dealers in business fifty years
ago was that of James and Samuel Barratt, in Fennell
Street They were brothers-in-law to Joseph Fletcher, Mrs.
Fletcher being a Miss Barratt When the Fletchers gave
up the retail and went altogether into the wholesale, they
were much opposed by the Barnttts, so much so that when
the former got new lurries painted blue, the Bairatts, whose
lurries had been blue, immediately had them painted red.
Just at the comer of Swan Street and Shudehill was another
old com dealer, named Hesketh, who more than seventy
years ago was in business in Chapel Street, Salford. He
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gS MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
was a friend of my father's, and a Wesle3ran, and with his
family attended Oldham Street Chapel.
Besides Samuel Prince and William Newall, already
named, the principal grocers whom I remember were
George Southam, father of the late Mr. Southam, the sur-
geon, of Salford ; Richardson and Roebuck, both of the
Market Place ; and James and Thomas Fildes, in Shudehill,
where they carried on a large wholesale business in addition
to the retail They had also a shop at the corner of Travis
Street, London Road, which had been carried on by their
father, Thomas Fildes, who took an active part in the
establishment of the first Sunday school in Manchester.
Near to his shop was a cellar, inhabited by a poor shoe-
maker named John Lancaster, who, in 1785, came to Man-
chester from Halifax, and almost immediately started a
Sunday School in his cellar. Both he and his neighbour
were Methodists, and Mr. Fildes, learning what he had
done, joined him in the effort The cellar was made warm
and comfortable, and soon another cellar was added.
Shortly afterwards, Thomas Fildes erected some cottages,
over which was a large room, behind his residence in
Worsley Street, to which the children were transferred.
His grandson, Mr. James Fildes, of Spring Gardens, in-
forms me that, so far as can be ascertained, this was the
first Sunday School erected in Manchester, which would be
about the year 1787. Mr. James Fildes, the elder, as a
trustee of Oldham Street Chapel, was one of the principal
defendants in the Chancery suit instituted by the Rev.
Dr. Warren, and which, being decided by Lord Lyndhurst
against the doctor, led to what is known among Wesleyans
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ITALIAN TRADESMEN.
97
as the Warrenite division. During the hearing of the case,
Sir Charles Wetherell, Dr. Warren's counsel, used to cause
a smile by his persistently speaking of the defendant as
"James Fil-dees."
Fifty years ago several respectable Italians were in busi-
ness here, as carvers and gilders, looking-glass makers, and
printsdlers. In 1810 Vincent Zanetti carried on business,
as a carver and gilder, at Wright's Court, Market Street, and
his brother Vittore at a shop a little higher up Market
Street About the year 1817, Vittore Zanetti joined the late
Mr. Agnew, the firm being Zanetti and Agnew. At the time
I came to Manchester, Mr. Vittore Zanetti had retired in
fevour of his son, when the firm became Agnew and Zanetti,
having removed to the premises still occupied by Messrs.
Agnew in Exchange Street Messrs. Grundy and Fox,
printsellers, were at the time in business in St Ann's
Square, but shortly removed to the premises in Exchange
Street, occupied so long by Messrs. Grundy. Mr. Joseph
Merone commenced business, as a carver and gilder, at the
beginning of this century, in Market Street, in the shop
now occupied by the Milner Safe Company. I remember
him there, in 1829, as an old man. Mr. Dominic Bolongaro
b^;an business, as a carver and gilder, about the year 181 8,
in Old MiUgate, where he continued till he removed to the
premises in Market Street, now occupied by his son, which
was shortly after I took up my abode on the opposite side
of the street At this time there were two looking-glass
makers, named Peduzzi, in separate shops in Oldham
Street Anthony commenced business, as a picture dealer,
in Spear Street, during the first decade of the present
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98 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
century, and after settling in Tib Street for a few years,
took a shop in Oldham Street James Peduzzi, who, I
believe, was Anthony*s son, began business about 1822. I
remember we had them both as customers for quicksilver.
Joshua Ronchetti was a noted maker of barometers, thermo-
meters, and specially of hydrometers, of the latter of which
he had a large sale, on which at that time handsome profits
were made. His first place of business was his house in
Balloon Street, Withy Grove. He afterwards removed
to Cateaton Street, and shortly after I came to Market
Street, he became our neighbour. His son-in-law, Mr.
Casartelli, succeeded him, and occupies the same pre-
mises. Baptist the &ther of Joshua Ronchetti, was a
'' weather glass maker," in High Street Joshua had two
sons. Baptist and Joshua, who followed the same business
in London, with the latter of whom I was very intimate.
Miss Ronchetti, his eldest daughter, died very recently.
Another of these Italians, whom I knew well fifty years
ago, was John Bianchi, in Tib Street He was a maker of
plaster of Paris, with which he used to supply those of his
poorer countrymen, who were often seen carrying all the
kings of Europe on their heads. Bianchi afterwards entered
the police force, and proved himself to be a very intelligent
and useftil officer.
Besides the carvers and gilders already mentioned, the
notorious Joseph Gale carried on that business in 1829,
near the shop now occupied by the Milner Safe Company
in Market Street His sparkling wit, his humour, and his
drollery were inimitable ; and the tales which were told of
the sly tricks which he played on his fiiends, and even on
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BENJAMIN yOULB AND HIS SONS. 99
casual acquaintances^ were innumerable. He once met
with a man at the Wind Mill Tavern, in Bridge Street, who
had been getting married that day, when, pretending that
he had met him before and was an old acqu^tance, he
led him off, and got him so drunk that the poor fellow only
found his way home to his newly-married wife the next day.
He served his apprenticeship to Mr. Dominic Bolongaro,
and whilst in Market Street failed in business, and then
commenced as a hatter in Dude Place. When the
Exchange Arcade was built, he removed to King Street, near
the well-known shop of Miss Boardman, the confectioner.
He introduced a new feature into the hatting trade, and
kept a barrel of beer on tap, with bread and cheese for
his visitors. At length, during the mania for speculation
in shares, he became a share broker.
At present there are nearly 120 brewers in Manchester,
whilst in 1829 there were only 28, the largest of whom was
Mr. Benjamin Joule, of Salford, the father of Mr. Benjamin
St John Baptist Joule, J.P., of Southport, the accomplished
organist and musician, and Mr. James Prescott Joule,
D.CL., LL.D., F.R.S., so well known in scientific circles
for several important discoveries, but chiefly for that of the
mechanical equivalent of heat
The late Alderman Bake was then a saddler in Port
Street, whence he removed to keep the Bull's Head Inn in
Barnes Street, which thenceforward was generally known as
"Jim Bake*s," The late George Pilkington, the giver of
the statue of Humphrey Chetham now in the Cathedral,
was then a cashier and manager in the service of Mr. Ellis
Duckworth, the distiller, in New Cannon Street As we
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lOO MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
obtained the spirits of wine used in the business from thence
and being a neighbour, I knew him intimately. On Mr.
Duckworth's retirement, George Pilkington succeeded him.
A little lower down Market Street, not very far from the
present site of the Omnibus Office, was the shop of Mr.
James Varley, smallware dealer, and father of Mrs. Lmnaeus
Banks. Mrs. Varley used to attend to the business as well
as her husband. Being neighbours, I knew them very well,
the impression left on my mind of Mrs. Varley being that
she was a very agreeable, chatty, and intelligent lady.
Fifty years ago there was a confectioner's shop a few
doors past the end of Bridge Street, in Deansgate, kept
by Mary Harrison & Co. Though the shop was small, the
business done in it was large. It would be interesting to
know how many wedding breakfasts have been adorned by
bridescakes which have been sent out from this establish-
ment, for it used to bear a high character for the quality of
these important elements of festivity. This old-foshioned
shop, with its small panes of glass, has retained its original
simplicity, resisting most resolutely to the present day the
tendencies of the times towards glare and grandeur. At
last, I understand, it is to follow the fate of so many other
mementoes of a bygone age, and in another week or two
will be demolished. The Miss Harrisons came from
Buxton, and were known as the " Buxton Bakers." *
The name of Micah Fumiss, silversmith and toy dealer,
whose shop I well remember fifty years ago, at the comer
of St. Ann's Square and St Ann's Street, should not be
* The shop has lately been taken down, and the business removed.
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FASHIONABLE TAILORS. IQI
omitted. It has been suggested to me that he was one of
the veiy oldest traders in Manchester, but there is no evi-
dence that he was in business in the last century. He was
occupying the same shop, however, about the year 1810.
The most fiishionable tailors fifty years ago were Scarr,
Petty, and Swain, next door to Mr. Fumiss, in the Square ;
Geary and Home, their next door neighbours ; John King,
father of our respected City Alderman, whose shop was on
the opposite side; Edward Varley, of Ebcchange Street;
and John Skerrette Stubbs, whose shop was between those
of J. Pickering, the music seller, and James Adshead, the
hosier. Mr. Stubbs was originally a silk manufacturer in
Market Street, and failed ; he then commenced the busi-
ness of a tailor, in the square, and succeeded so well that
he paid off his former creditors in full, and died a wealthy
man. He had a remarkably well made figure, which shewed
off a good suit of clothes to perfection. On the opposite
side of the Square was the shop of Jonathan Wimpory, the
fashionable boot and shoe maker. The gentleman who
reigned supreme as a hairdresser was William Stoby, of
St. Ann's Place, whose charge for simply cutting the hair was
a shilling. He b^;an business at the beginning of this century
in Queen Street, certainly not a street in which we should
now expect to see carriages draw up at a hairdresser's door.
If any gentleman wished to adorn himself in leather breeches,
he would make his way to the shop of old George Perkins,
which, fifty years ago, was in Old Millgate, and previously
was in ShudehilL The principal auctioneer at that time was
Mr. Capes, &ther of the late senior partner in the firm of
Capes and Dunn, whose room, I have already stated, was
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I02 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
in High Street Another auctioneer who commanded a
good share of patronage was William Morris, whose rooms
were near Four Yards, in King Street, and who succeeded
a well-known man named Howe, generally known as Lord
Howe.
The most noted engineers of the day were Peel,
Williams, and Peel,* of the Soho Foundry, Ancoats,
and Galloway, Bowman, and Glasgow, of Great Bridgewater
Street These two firms began business soon after the
commencement of the present century, the latter of the two
consisting at first of Galloway and Bowman only, who then
designated themselves millwrights. There were then three
oi^gan builders in Manchester : Robert Bradbury in Picca-
dilly, Joseph Richardson in Bloom Street, and Renn and
Boston in Dickenson Street — the latter being the most
noted and most largely patronized.
Amongst the best known teachers of dancing at that
time were Mr. Frederick Cooper, in Faulkner Street, who
lived there for some years, and was succeeded by his son ;
Mr. Prosper Paris, in Brazennose Street ; Mr. James W.
Pitt, in Faulkner Street; and Mr. Thomas Palmer, in George
Street A very popular teacher of French was M. Alexander
Mordacque, in George Street, whom I remember well as a
litde, sharp, elderly gentleman. His son, I remember, too,
as a Grammar School lad He subsequently entered the
Church, and obtained his first curacy at Haslingden, or
at some place near it Other teachers of French were
*Mr. Geoiige Fed still snrvives, having beea born in Halliwell
Street, in 1803.
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DAVID WARD BANKS.
103
M. Eugene Vembergue, in Faulkner Street \ and M. Louis
Amand Beauvoisin, in Clarence Street
The principal teachers of music, whom I remember, were
Mr. Richard Cudmore, in Geoige Street; Mr. Moses
Hughes, in the same street \ Mr. James Hyde, in David
Street j Mr. William Sudlow, in Hanging Ditch; and
Messrs. Ward and Andrews, in Spring Gardens. The latter
taught what was called the '' Logerian System of Music,"
their rooms being at the right-hand comer of Spring Gardens
and Marble Street, as you enter. Mr. Andrew Ward, at the
age of eighteen, was leader of the band of the Theatre
Royal, and died, in 1838, at the age of 49. Mr. Andrews
was the son of a popular comedian at the same theatre.
At the time we are speaking of, Mr. Ward's nephew,
Mr. David Ward Banks, was apprenticed to them. I became
acquainted with him during his and my apprenticeship, and
remember seeing him frequently riding down Market Street,
on horseback, early in the morning, on his way to the
country, once a week, travelling as far as Bury and Hasling-
den, to give lessons in music at various schools and private
£unilies. He afterwards became very eminent in Man-
chester, as a teacher, an organist, and as a musical conductor.
On the occasion of the Queen's first visit to our city, 80,000
Sunday scholars were gathered in Peel Park ; they were to
sing " God save the Queen" in her presence, as she drove
round the park, and Mr. Banks was selected as the con-
ductor. Rehearsals had taken place in every Sunday
school to be represented on the occasion, for weeks before-
hand, and every precaution was taken to prevent failure and
ensure success. When, however, the critical moment came,
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I04
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
through no fsiult of the conductor, the first verse was hardly
got through when the whole thing collapsed. I was present
amongst the children, as a teacher, and noticed that when
the Queen's carriage drew up in front of the platform on
which we stood, the children became so much excited,
being seized with such a desire to have a good look at Her
Majesty, with her gay surroundings of ladies and gentlemen,
liveried servants, horses and carriages, that they forgot all
about the object for which they were assembled, and ceased
to sing. Poor Banks continued to beat the air with his
baton, in his elevated stand, with all the violent energy of
which he was capable, but it was of no use, and the afiair
ended with a loud shout of delight on the part of the singers,
and a good laugh on the part of the. Queen. The labour
needed to organize such a gathering, and the arrange-
ment of multitudinous details beforehand, formed an hercu-
lean task, which was voluntarily undertaken, principally
by Mr. Robert Needham, the brother of our friend,
Mr. J. C. Needham. His death occurred shortly after,
producing the impression on the minds of many of his
friends that it had been hastened, if not caused, by the
anxieties and toils he had lately passed through.
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MR. JOHN BROGDEN. 105
CHAPTER IX.
NOTABLE* PERSONS.
T^HE late Mr. John Brogden, the fether of Mr. Alexander
^ Brogden, MP. for Wednesbury, at this time was a
dealer in horses in Eveiy Street, Ancoats. This led to a con-
siderable intimacy with the late Mr. Samuel Brooks, who
had always a great fency for horses. Mr. Brogden relinquished
his business, and became a contractor for cleansing the
streets of the town, occupying the town's yard, which now
forms part of the site of the new Town Hall. After this he be-
came a contractor for the construction of railways, being best
known for the construction of the Fumess Railway, which
crosses the sands at Ulverston. I well remember him and
his good-looking wife, as I used to see them in the gallery
of Oldham Street Chapel every Sunday morning.
I have a vivid recollection of the figure of an elderly
gentleman whom I used to notice fifty years ago, as he
tracked his way through the streets. It was impossible to -
see him without being struck by his appearance. He was
a large-boned man, though not corpulent, was beginning to
stoop a little, walked with rather a quick step, the expression
of his face indicating that he was very much in earnest about
something, and was most respectably dressed in black,
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I06 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
wearing the usual knee-breeches of the period, with silver
knee-buckles and black stockings, and having on a pair of
gold spectacles. To those who knew him I think I need
not say that this was Mr. Thomas Fleming, who for many
years took such a lively interestun the improvement of the
town. To him, in connection with Mr. George William
Wood, formerly M.P. for the southern division of the
county, is principally ascribed the merit of originating the
gas works of Manchester, and placing them on their original
basis, which has been so beneficial to the town. At the
beginning of the century, where is now the Blackfriars
Bridge, Salford, was approached by means of a wooden
bridge four feet wide, the descent to which on the Man-
chester side was by means of forty steps, and which was
only intended of course for foot passengers. Mr. Fleming
was the means of forming a company and raising the capital
in shares for the erection of the present structure, for
passing over which a toll was paid for many years. The
speculation did not pay, and ultimately Mr. Fleming bought
up all the shares. The foundation stone was laid by him
on the 4th of January, 1819, and the bridge was formally
. opened by him on August ist, 1820. It has now been free
from toll several years. It was owing to his energy, too,
that the widening of Market Street was originated and
brought to a successful completion. He was a large
manufacturer of archil in Water Street, having begun that
business about the year 1790, in the same premises which
he occupied in 1829.
John Dalton, had not then received his degree of
Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford, and fifty years
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JOHN DALTON AND PETRR CLARE. 107
ago was professor of chemistry, mathematics, and
natural philosophy, residing with the Rev. William Johns,
at his Academy in George Street He was a Fellow of the
Royal Society and President of the Manchester Literary
and Philosophical Society. Most persons know that he was
the discoverer of the Atomic Theory, and also that he was
a Qoaker. I occasionally saw him, the last time being
about a year before his death, when I met him arm-in-arm
with his attached friend Peter Clare, in York Street, as
thou^ they were proceeding from the Literary and Philo-
sophical Rooms, in George Street, to Clare's house, in Quay
Street They were walking at a slow pace, owing to the
doctor's feebleness, his arm resting on that of his friend.
He had a beautiiiilly calm and placid countenance, ex-
pressive of gentleness, thoughtfiilness, and intelligence, and
was generally dressed in black. There is a clock in the
room in which he sat as president of the Literary and
Philosophical Society, in George Street, which was made at
his request, I presume by his friend Peter Clare, and which
only gives one stroke on the bell in the course of the
twenty-four hours. This is at nine o'clock p.m., and by its
means notice was given at that hour to dose a discussion —
showing Dalton's methodical character.
Peter Clare was also a Quaker, and was Dalton's bosom
friend. He was one of the secretaries of the Literary and
Philosophical Society. His frither, Peter Clare, was in
business, at the close of the last century, in Deansgate, as a
dock, watch, and smoke-jack maker, and about the b^in-
ning of the present one removed to Quay Street, where the
son was residing in 1829, afterwards confining his attention
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io8 uTanchbstbr fifty years ago.
principally to the making of clocks^ in which line both
father and son were celebrated in their day. I well re-
member the second Peter Clare. He was always remark-
ably neat and well dressed in a suit of black, wearing
knee-breeches with silver buckles, which showed his fine,
well-shaped legs, and a broad-brimmed hat His linen was
of the purest white, and he presented a dean, happy, and
cheerfiil-looking face, which was not disfigured by a beard.
The sight of Dalton and Clare, as I saw them walking
arm-in-arm, was so striking that I could not resist stopping
to gaze after them, and their figures still seem to be photo-
graphed on my memory.
I well remember Mr. John Greenwood, the father of Mr.
John Greenwood of the Carriage Company, who was the
originator of omnibuses here a very short time before I
came to Manchester. He kept the toUbar at Pendleton
originally, and at the time I remember him he used to be
busy looking after his one or two very small omnibuses,
which ran to Pendleton at certain periods of the day fix)m
the left-hand side of the lower end of Market Street They
ran in the early part of the morning, at noon, and in the
evening, and for some years started from the place men-
tioned. Mr. Greenwood was a rather big man, wore knee-
breeches and coloured stockings, and had one of his hands
mutilated, I believe by a gun accident At this time the
present Mr. John Greenwood, whom I well remember as a
young man, was a clerk in Trueman's cotton warehouse,
Ducie Place, near the old Post Office, behind the Exchange.
A little stout man named Penketh then drove his own small
solitary Tjus to Cheetham HilL He afterwards sold it to
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GEORGE WILSON. 109
John Ramsbottom, and continued to drive for him. After-
wards the Cheetham Hill omnibuses, which had increased
in number, were sold to Greenwood, Clough, and Turner.
After a while the partnership was dissolved, and Turner
retained the Cheetham Hill concern and Greenwood the
Pendleton one.
George Wilson, the chairman of the Anti-Com-Law
League, and afterwards chairman of the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railway Company, I used to know about the
time referred to very well He was in the habit of
frequenting the shop where I was an apprentice, before he
became a public character, and occasionally had a chat
with my master and the assistant, being very plain and
unassuming in his manner. His fitther was a flour dealer,
near to New Cross, and the son became a manufacturer of
starch, at Newton HeatL He was a believer in phrenology,
and afterwards became a member of the class formed by
Mr. William Bally for the purpose of studying it Bally was an
Italian, and well known in Manchester as a great authority
on that subject I well remember how surprised I was
when Geoige Wilson was appointed to the office of chair-
man of the Anti-Com-Law League, never suspecting his
possession of those qualities which so eminently qualified
him for it, and which the eyes of others had detected in
him. Richard Cobden had a very high opinion of him, and
used to say of him that he could always see the end of any-
thing from the beginning. He had the weakness of indis-
criminate generosity, being accustomed, at the latter period
of his life, to keep plenty of loose silver and copper in his
pocket, of which he would distribute to almost every
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I lo MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
suppliaat he met When remonstrated with on the subject,
he would reply that if he relieved only one deserving person
out of the lot he was glad. I once had the pleasure of
spending a very pleasant evening with him in London, in
the early days of the League, as we happened both to
be staying at Thompson's boarding-house, in Bartlett's
Buildings.
The late Alderman Charles James Stanley Walker lived
to such a good old age, sitting on the bench to such a late
period of life, that it is not many years since he passed
from amongst us, and hence is well remembered by most
Manchester people. I never saw him when he did not wear
a swallow-tailed coat, which was always buttoned up to the
chin. Fifty years ago his favourite colour was blue, the
coat being adorned with smooth, bright, gilt buttons. His
visage being free from hair, and his skin remarkably dear
and smooth, he presented a very striking appearance, but
always looked the gentleman. He descended from an old
Manchester ^unily, which had been Liberal in politics, on
which account they had been much persecuted. His £Either,
Thomas Walker, was the leader of the Liberal party here
during the course of the first French Revolution, just after
the breaking out of which he was appointed boroughreeve.
His house and warehouse were attacked by one of the
Church-and-King mobs of that period, and he was tried for
treason in 1794, being defended by £rskine, who made
one of his most celebrated speeches in his defence.
I met the late C. J. S. Walker, on the occasion of laying
the foundation stone of the present Withington Workhouse,
when he told me that he remembered, when a little boy, his
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C. 7. S. WALKER AND ''DICTUM FACTUM:' \\\
filther lived in the 4ast house in South Parade going from
Deansgate, that the house was once attacked by a mob, and
that he was taken out of danger's way at the back through
the garden, which extended a long way behind When
Manchester was incorporated, he was elected an alderman,
and was made a magistrate, to the duties of which he
assiduously devoted himself to the last. He was the
brother of Thomas Walker, M.A., a barrister, one of the
police magistrates of the metropolis, and author of a book
full of common sense, known as "The Original," containing
several chapters on aristology or the art of dining, the art of
attaining high health, the art of listening, and the art of
travelling.
" Dictum Factmn " was a gentleman tolerably well known
here at the time I am speaking of. He was rather eccen-
tric, and was afflicted with St Vitus's Dance, which added
very much to his apparent eccentricity. Notwithstanding,
he was very genial, good-natured, and much respected.
His name being Seddon, he took it as if written ''Said
done," which being translated into Latin is Dictum Factum.
As he kept his carriage, he took this as his motto, had it
painted on his carriage door, and it became the name by
which he was familiarly known amongst his friends. It is
said he was the author of the song known as '' The Spider
and the Fly."
Joe Richardson was another well-known character fifty
years ago. He was the son of Mr. Joseph Richardson, who
kept the King's Head, in Chapel Street, Salford, and was
known for his splendid horsemanship, it being said he was
the best steeplechase rider in the country. He was li^^tly
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1 1 2 MANCHESTER FIFTY YBARS AGO.
built, wore a pair of drab cloth knee-breeches and top-boots,
and always seemed to be riding through the streets. He
had such a command over his horse that it might have
been a part of himself. At the time of the late Alderman
Bake's death, it was stated in a Manchester newspaper that
after he went to the Bull's Head, which became such a
famous betting house, Mr. Bake himself used to bring home
the news of the winner of the St Leger from Doncaster on
horseback. I must not dispute this, but I well remember
that after a time Joe Richardson was employed to do this,
using relays of horses. I can recollect what crowds used to
be collected about Barnes Street, waiting for the news. It
would be interesting to know how long the journey took
him.
I well remember that very corpulent, jolly-looking lady,
known as Dolly Rexford, whose father was the senior
partner in the firm of Rexford, Holland, and Taylor, wine
merchants, in Cross Street, his house being in Brazenose
Street She was bom in 1798, the year in which her
father died. Her mother, after her father's death, kept
the Grapes, in Deansgate, and, in 1829, was living a
widow, in Brazenose Street Dolly became the wife of
Job Haigh (who at that time kept the Rising Sun, in
Swan Street), and died at the age of fifty-five. A notice
of her appeared in the City News of September 7, 1878, in
which it was stated that she was so stout, that when she
travelled on the Altrincham line, it took two or three rail-
way porters to get her in and out of the train. It may be
that it is more difficult to get into a railway carriage than a
hackney coach of the old tim^ even for a lighter person, as
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MANCHESTER NEGATIVELY.
"3
we all know; but I thought the statement a figure of
speech. I once saw her get into a hackney coadh — ^not a
cab — opposite Dude Place, in Market Street The coach-
num had to give a good push behind, certainly, but she
managed to get in.
A little later I recollect John Easby, a well-known
character of his day, who was the then editor oiBcb Lo^s
Budget^ a despicable and scurrilous publication, the sale of
which was encouraged, I regret to say, by the scandal
which it retailed concerning various public characters, in
this respect resembling some later publications. When a
boy he was the recipient of Anne Hinde's Charity, and wore
the livery of such, which consisted of green coat and vest,
green stockings, and leather knee-breeches.
It seems to be convenient at this point to endeavour to
present a negative picture of Manchester, which will give a
good idea of the great changes which have taken place in
its condition during the last fifty years. I have not tried to
das^ the objects named, but name them as they arise in
the mind. Fifiy years ago, then, there were in Man-
chester no Athen»um, no Bonded Warehouse, no Assize
Courts, no Free Library, no Botanical Gardens, no police
court, no public parks, no statues, no Concert Hall, no
railway stations, no beerhouses, no members of Parliament ;
no bishop, dean, or canons ; no mayor, aldermen, or coun-
dllors; no town derk, no city or borough coroner, no
Cathedral, no stipendiary for the city, no police, no Coimty
Court, no poor-law guardians, no Saturday half-holiday, no
early dosing, no manorial rights, no penny postage, no tele-
graphs, no local daily paper, no penny newspaper, no cabs,
I
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114
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
no omnibuses as now, no teetotal societies, no volunteers,
no steel pens in constant use, no ludfer matches, no Stret-
ford Road, no free trade. There were no ocean steamships,
slavery was not abolished, neither were the com laws.
Everything was taxed — almanacs, windows, paper, soap,
leather; bottles, and other glass; newspapers, advertise-
ments, and hundreds of other things in common use, which
are now as unburthened as the air.
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PLACES OF WORSHIP.
"5
CHAPTER X.
PLACES OP WORSHIP. — CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
A T the beginning of the last centuiy there were only
'^** two churches and two chapels in Manchester and
Salford, viz.: — ^The Collegiate Church in Manchester,
Trinity in Salford, the Presb3rterian Chapel in Cross Street,
and the Friends' Meeting House in Deansgate. Of these
the only building now standing is the Collegiate Church,
the others having been pulled down and rebuilt The
following facts will shew the earnestness of the religious
revival of the eighteenth century.
Fifty years ago there were in Manchester and Salford
sixty-seven places of worship and eighty-one ministers.
To-day there are about 323 churches and chapels and 417
ministers, showing that they have increased about five-fold
since 1829. The following table shows with tolerable
accuracy the relative numbers of these pertaining to the
various sects. The number as to 1829 1 believe to be fairly
accurate; there is some difficulty as to those of 1879,
owing to the existence of a large number of mission-rooms,
which I have endeavoured to exclude. There is also the
consideration that the area is much larger than it was ;
that many places which were outside Manchester fifty years
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1 16 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
ago are now part of it So that I cannot say that the
numbers for the present year are more than an approidma-
tion to the truth, though I think a near one. The number
of Wesleyan ministers does not include what are technically
known as supernumeraries — ^that is, ministers who have
given up the active duties of the ministry and yet do a
good deal of preaching on a Sunday.
The difficulty has been to draw a line fixing the limit : —
1829. 1879.
Plates 0/ Places of
Worship. Mimsttrs. Worship. MmisUrs.
Church of England 20 ... 33 no ... 175
Independent 8 ... 5 34 - 3©
Wesleyan 9 — U 35 — 39
Roman Catholic 3 ... 7 33 ••• ^
Various Methodist 6 ... 5 49 •- 34
Baptist 4 ... 4 17 — 19
Presbyterian i ... 2 13 ... 13
Unitarian : 4 ... 5 12 ... 13
Welsh S ... 2 6 ... 4
Swedenboigian 2 ... 2 2 ... 2
Jews I ... I 4 ••• 4
Quakers i ... o I ... o
Various 3 ... 2 7 ... 3
67 81 323 417
The following twenty churches existed fifty years ago : —
I. The Old Church. — In 1419 Thomas de la Warre,
the then rector of Manchester, having succeeded to large
patrimonial estates and to the advowson of the rectory,
proposed to the parishioners to build, at his own expense.
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THE OLD CHURCH. . 117
and endowy a Collegiate Church, in lieu of the Parish
ChurcL This was accomplished, and the present beautiful
church was built, at vast expense. The ancient parish
comprised 32 townships, having an area of 35,000 acres.
The church has accommodation for 3,000 worshippers, and
the number of baptisms and marriages here, it is supposed,
is greater than in any other church in the kingdom. The
soft red stone of the exterior, fifty years ago, was in a very
decaying state, since which time very extensive repairs have
been effected, both inside and out, and a new tower has
been built Manchester was then in the diocese of Chester,
the bishop of which was the Rev. John Bird Sumner, D.D.,
who afterwards was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
There was consequently neither cathedral nor bishop,
neither dean nor canons. We had instead connected with
the Collegiate Church a warden, four fellows, two chaplains,
and one clerk in orders. The warden was the Very Rev.
Thomas Jackson Calvert, D.D., rector of Wilmslow, who
succeeded the Rev. Dr. Blackbume. The latter was the
youngest brother of Mr. John Blackbume, M.P., and of
Mr. Isaac Blackbume, the distributor of stamps for Man-
chester. Dr. Calvert was appointed in 1823, two months
after Dr. Blackbume's death. He was a fine, venerable-
looking man, having a very clerical appearance, whose
house was in Mosley Street The four fellows were the
Rev. John Gatliffe, who was also rector of St Mary's; the
Rev. C. W. Ethelstone, incumbent of St Mark's, Cheetham,
whose son succeeded him there ; the Rev. John Clowes,
of Broughton Hall ; and the Rev. J. H. Mallory, who at
that time either lived or had rooms in Pall Mall. The two
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1 1 8 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Chaplains were the Rev. C D. Wray, also incumbent of
St Thomas's, Ardwick, and the Rev. Richard Rimmington,
who was a customer of my master's. I remember him as a
very genial, friendly, and gentlemanly man, dressed more
like an ordinary gentleman than a cleric. Mr. Wray, it will
be remembered, lived to be a very old man. The Clerk in
Orders was the Rev. Moses Randall, who had been pre-
viously curate at St Ann's. Mr. Humphrey Nichols, who
only lately passed away from us, after benefitting the public
charities by his accumulated wealth, was then Parish Clerk.
He lived at Stony Knolls, and had Mr. Thomas Parry,
whose house was close by in Fennel Street, as his deputy.
I remember Mr. Clowes very well, from the fact that I heard
him preach in the Collegiate Church one Sunday afternoon
in lavender gloves. He was a tall man, and seemed to have
imusually long arms.
2. St. Ann's Church, a handsome Corinthian edifice,
was founded by Lady Ann Bland, of Hulme Hall, in 1709,
and was consecrated in 1712. The rector, fifty years ago,
was the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Smith, who was also high
master at the Grammar School, and lived in Long Millgate.
He had held the office of head master since the beginning
of the century, at which time he was the curate of Trinity
Church, Salford. He then became incumbent of St Peter's
Church, and afterwards rector of St. Ann's. The first
rector was the Rev. Nathaniel BaniL
3. St. Thomas's, Ardwick, was, I believe, the next in the
order of consecration. When it was founded in 1741, and
enlarged in 1777, Ardwick was a little village separated
fix>m Manchester by at least a mile of cultivated fields. In
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ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
119
1815, the Rev. J. Cooke was the incumbent^ and after him
the Rev. C D. Wray, having as curate the Rev. W. Words-
worth. In 1829 the Rev. Nicholas William Gibson was
Mr. Wra/s curate, and he afterwards became incumbent
4. Trinity Church, Salford, built in the Gothic order
of architecture, had been founded by Himiphrey Booth, a
prosperous merchant of Salford, in 1635. It was, how-
ever, taken down and rebuilt in 1752, so that the present
edifice b not 130 years old. The incumbent, fifty years ago,
was the Rev. Samuel Booth, the father of the present rector
of Chorlton-cum- Hardy.
5. St. Mary's Church, a Doric edifice, was founded in
1753, by the Warden and Fellows of the Collegiate Church,
the foundation stones being laid by the Revs. Messrs.
Assheton, Foxley, and Moss. In 1829, the Rev. John
Gatliffe was rector, and the Rev. R. Basnett, curate. The
church was originally built with a very high spire, which
was generally admired, but which, being considered unsafe,
was taken down some years since. For seventy years after
it was built, the church had on the summit of its spire a gilt
ball and cross. In 1822, the rod which supported them was
so much bent by a violent gale, as to become dangerous,
and remained so for some months, to the terror of the con-
gregation. At length, an enterprising and ingenious artisan,
named Philip Wotton, in view of thousands of spectators,
ascended to the top of the spire, and succeeded in safely
landing both ball and cross. The ornamental pulpit, which
the church contained fifty years ago, was the gift of the con-
gregation to the rector, the organ having been the gift of
Mr. Holland Ackers.
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1 20 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
6. St. Paul's, Turner Street, was consecrated in 1765,
but in thirteen years the congregation had so much increased
that the church had to be enlarged. The Rev. J. Piccope
was the incumbent in 1829, Though respectably dressed,
he was not as clerical in his appearance as clergymen now
are, and might have been easily mistaken for a dissenting
minister of that day. I was present one Sunday morning
at the service, and remember that there was a good congre-
gation. The church is now converted into business premises,
and in its place a much finer edifice has been erected in
Oldham Road, near New Cross.
7. St. John's Church was founded by Edward Byrom,
in 1768, and consecrated the following year, when the
Rev. John Clowes was presented by the founder as the first
rector. He was rector in 1829, and resided in Wamrick-
shire, having two curates to attend to the spiritual wants of
the parishioners. The Rev. Robert Dallas was the first of
these ; he resided in Quay Street, and at the same time held
the office of Master of the Lower Grammar School The
Rev. Wm. Huntingdon was the other; he resided in
St John Street Mr. Dawson, who lived at the cottage which,
with its garden, once occupied the groimd on which the
Concert Hall and the adjoining warehouse now stand, was
associated with Edward Byrom in building St John's
Church. Some dispute, however, arising, Mr. Dawson
withdrew after he had paid for a portion of the building
materials. He purchased the picture, by Annibal Caracci,
of "The Descent* firom the Cross" in Italy, which is now
over the commimion table of St Peter's Church, intending
it for St John's in the first instance, but, on the occurrence
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Ii£V. JOHN CLOWES. 1 2 1
of the dispute, he presented it to St Peter's. A remarkable
history of longevity stands connected with the history of
this churchy inasmuch as the two first rectors held the office
for 107 years. Mr. Clowes died in 1831, at the age of
eighty-seven, having been rector for sixty-two years, and
Mr. Huntingdon, who was appointed to succeed him, died
four or five years ago, having been connected with the
church as rector and curate for more than fifty years. Mr.
Clowes, the rector of St John's, must not be confounded
with the clergyman of the same name previously mentioned^
who was one of the Fellows of the Collegiate Church. The
Mr. Clowes of St. John's was the fourth son of Mr. Joseph
Qowes, barrister, and was educated at the school of the
Rev. John Ckjrton, in Salford, who was a firiend of John
Byrom and of John Wesley, and at Trinity College, Cam-
bridge. Soon after he was made rector of St John's he be-
came acquainted with the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg,
whose theological teachings he imbibed; and, strange to
say, he was allowed to retain his position and yet to devote
all his energies to spread those doctrines both by the press
and in the pulpit
8. St. Thomas's Chapel, Pendleton, was originally built
at the expense of Mr. Samuel Brierley, and was consecrated
1776, when the Rev. James Pedley, assistant master of the
Grammar School, was appointed incumbent, residing in
Gravel Lane. The present St Thomas's Church was built
in 1830, and consecrated in 1831. The Rev. William
Keeling was the incumbent fifty years ago.
9. St. James's Church was built by the Rev. Cornelius
Bayley, D.D., in 1788, his house being in Charlotte-street
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122 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
For some time after the church was built, it was the practice
of the Wesleyans to assemble at Oldham-street Chapel on a
Sunday morning at nine o'clock, and hold a service which
lasted an hour and a quarter, after which they adjourned to
Dr. Bayle/s church and formed a considerable portion of
his congregation.
10. St. Peter's, built by Wyatt, was also founded in
1788 by the Rev. Samuel Hall, who had been curate at
St Ann's, when he lived in Greengate. He was the first
rector, and afterwards resided in Oxford Road. After him
the Rev. Jeremiah Smith, D.D., became incumbent, who
had previously been curate of Trinity Church, Salford, and
head master of the Grammar School In 1839 Dr. Smith
was rector of St Ann's, retaining the of&ce of head master
of the Grammar School, which he held for some years.
In 1824 the Rev. Nicholas Germon was the curate at
St Peter's, and second master at the Grammar School, and
in 1829 was rector of St Peter's, retaining his office in the
school I have stated already that St. Peter's was first
built without a steeple, which was added some years after,
and was built by Mr. Heap. As just intimated, the painting
over the communion table, by Caracci, was purchased in
Italy and presented to the church by Mr. Dawson.
11. St. Michael's, Angel Street, was the third church
built during the year 1788, and is stated to have been
founded by the Rev. Humphrey Owen, one of the chaplains
of the Collegiate Church. Fifty years ago the Rev. William
Marsden, B.D., was the incumbent; he succeeded the
Rev. M. Wrigley, and resided many years in Quay Street
Mr. Marsden subsequently became vicar of Eccles, and was
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REV. WILUAM NUNN. 123
one of three brothers — George, John, and William. John
was a com dealer, m York Street, in 1829, and a Wesleyan,
whilst (jeorge was a very popular Wesleyan minister, who
began his ministry in 1793, and died in 1858. Mr. W.
Marsden had the living of Eccles presented to him, it was
said, because he voted at the first Manchester election
after the Reform Bill for Mark Philips and C Poulett
Thompson.
13. St. Clement's, Stevenson Square, was built in
17939 by the Rev. £dward Smyth, and was licensed but
not consecrated. Mr. Smyth resided in Back Lane, near
the church, at first; but in 1810 was living at Chorlton
Hall, near to Grosvenor Street He was succeeded by the
Rev. William Nunn, in 18 18, who was incumbent for
twenty-two years, and died in 1840. He was well known
as a minister, firom the iaxX of his preaching Calvinist
doctrines very strongly, but was greatly respected by all
classes. This was shown by the large number who attended
his funeral When a yoimg man, I firequently heard him
preach, and was amongst the throng who witnessed his
burial. His son is the incumbent of St Thomas's, Ardwick.
13. St. Mark's, Cheetham Hill, was built in 1794, by
the Rev. C. W. Ethelstone, one of the fellows of the Col-
legiate Church. He was the incumbent in 1829. At that
time he had for his curate the Rev. Peter Hordem, who
was also librarian at the Chetham Library from i82r
to 1834, and succeeded the Rev. R. H. Whitelock in
the curacy of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Mr. Hordem was
the &ther of Lady Ellen Frances Lubbock, the wife of
Sir John Lubbock, Bart, M.P. for Maidstone; she
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1 24 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
died a few months since, having been married in 1856.
Mr. Hordem was the son of the Rev. Joseph Hordem, at
one time curate of Prestwich and vicar of Holy Trinity
Churchy Shaw, near Oldham. Mr. Ethelstone was succeeded
by his son in the incumbency of St Mark's.
14. St. Stephen's, Salford, was built in the same year,
by the Rev. Nicholas Mosely Cheek, of Dale Street In
18 II the Rev. Ebenezer Booth was the incumbent, and in
X820 the Rev. Melville Horn was his curate. In 1824 he
had a second curate, in the person of the Rev. £. B. Shaw.
In 1829 Mr. Booth was still the incumbent, and no less a
person than the Rev. Hugh Stowell, who then had lodgings
in Bolton Street, was his curate. Shortly after this a
church was built for Mr. Stowell, in the Crescent, Salford,
to which he removed
15. St. George's, St George's Road, though built in .
1797. was not consecrated till 1818. It was opened for
divine service on the ist of April, 1798, but was for a short
time, it is said, occupied by ministers of Lady Huntington's
connexion. In 181 1 Samuel Bradley, who resided in
Faulkner Street, was the incumbent; and in 1824 the
Rev. William Johnson, residing in Oldham Street, held the
appointment. Fifty years ago the Rev. James White was the
incumbent — ^the brother of Henry Kirke White, the poet
16. St. Luke's, Chorlton-on-Medlock, was built by the
Rev. Edward Smyth, in 1804, who resided dose by, at
Chorlton HalL The church was licensed but not con-
secrated. Its first minister was the Rev. Abraham
Hepworth, LL.B,, who kept an academy at Barrowclough's
Buildings, Ardwick, his residence being at first in Rosamond
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^EV. DR. BURTON. 1 25
Street, then in Rusholme Lane, and afterwards in Grosvenor
Street In 1829 he still retained the incumbenqr, but had
given up the school
17. All Saints', Oxford Road, was founded in 1820
by the Rev. Charles Burton, LL.D., father of the present
incumbent He was the son of Mr. Daniel Burton, of the
firm of Daniel Burton and Sons, calico printers, of Rhodes,
near Middleton, whose warehouse was in High Street In
1829 Dr. Burton lived in York Street, Chorlton Row (as
Chorlton-on-Medlock was then called), where he kept an
academy. He was not only connected with an eminent
Wesleyan £unily, but began his career as a Wesleyan
minister, and had a brother, James Daniel Burton, who was
one. The brother was stationed in Manchester, about sixty-
five years ago, as a supernumerary. Charles, afterwards
Dr. Burton, when a young man, was appointed to the Maccles-
field, Leek, and Buxton Wesleyan Circuits, and while in the
latter, an old friend of mine heard him preach at the Wes-
lejran Chapel, Chapel-en-Frith. He married the daughter
of a wealthy gentleman in the Potteries, whose fortune, with
his own, supplied the means for his college course, and of
I building All Saints' Church. He was considered a young
I man of great promise, and no doubt he would have attained
a high position amongst the Wesleyans had he remained
one. He was a believer in the near approach of the millen-
nium, and many years ago lectured on the subject He was
a good Hebrew scholar, hence the text in Hebrew over the
south entrance to the church, " This is none other than the
House of God." He lived to a good old age, had a very
clerical appearance, wore knee-breeches and black cloth
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1 26 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
gaiters to the end of his days, and walked with a finn step,
which indicated the vigour and robustness of his constitu-
tion. Some years ago the church was on fire, when the
roof was destroyed.
18. St. Matthew's, Campfield, erected in the Gothic
style, is built upon the site of the ancient town of Man-
cunium, and was founded in 1822. A short time previously
an Act of Parliament was passed, known as Peel's Act, by
which a large sum of money was granted for the purpose of
building churches in this neighbourhood, commissioners
being appointed to manage the fimd. Out of this money
the commissioners granted ;^i4,ooo towards the erection of
St Matthew's Church, which was constituted a District
Parish Church. It is a fine specimen of modem Gothic
architecture, possessing an elegant lantern tower and spire,
and was about the first public work designed by the late
Sir Charles Barry (then Mr. Barry), who was the architect
of the Houses of Parliament, and also of the Manchester
Athenseum and the Unitarian Chapel in Upper Brook Street
In 1829, the Rev. Edward Butterworth Shaw was the incum-
bent, living in Byrom-street ; and the Rev. £. Dudley
Jackson, the curate, living in Irwell Street The Rev.
William Kidd* was the incumbent here before he obtained
the living of Didsbury. Mr. Dudley Jacksonf is now the
rector of St Thomas's Church, Heaton Chapel, and is the
author of one or two volumes of verse.
* Mr. Kidd was killed at the Didsbury Railway Station on the i8th
of December, i88o.
t Mr. Jackson has also passed away since these lines first appeared in
print
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R£K DR. HOOK,
127
19. St. Philip's, Salford, was consecrated in 1825, and
was built by the aid of a grant of ^14,000 out of the same
fiind. The first incumbent was the Rev. Oswald Sergeant,
son of Mr. Sergeant, of the firm of Sergeant, Milne, and
Sergeant, solicitors, and clerks to the magistrates. Sub-
sequently Mr. Sergeant was appointed one of the Fellows of
the Collegiate Chm-ch, and afterwards, on that church
becoming a Cathedral, one of the Canons, being a colleague
of the Rev. Dr. Parkinson.
20. St. George's, Hulme, was founded in 1826, and
consecrated in 1828. The same parliamentary grant was
made as in the last instance; but as the building cost
^20,000, ;^6,ooo was raised by private subscription. The
first incumbent was the Rev. Joshua Lingard, who lived in
Moss Lane, and was the brother of Mr. Thomas Lingard,
agent to the old Quay Company.
21. Though St. Andrew's, Travis Street, was being
buUt in 1829, and was not consecrated for a year or so
after, it may be as well to name it It was another of what
have been caUed '' Peel's Churches," a similar amount
of ^14,000 having been granted by the commissioners
towards its erectioa It was consecrated in 1831, and the
Rev. George Dugard was the first incumbent I once had
the pleasiu'e of hearing the Rev. Dr. Hook, before he was
dean, preach a most eloquent sermon in this church, his
text being ''I perceive that in all things ye are too
superstitious."
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1 28 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER XL
PLACES OF WORSHIP. — INDEPENDENT CHAPELS.
T^IFTY years ago there were eight Independent Chapels
in Manchester. These were severally situated in
Cannon Street, Grosvenor Street (Piccadilly), Mosley Street,
Rusholme Road, Jackson Street, Chapel Street, Salford,
Windsor Bridge, and Lees Street, Ancoats.
Cannon Street Chapel. — ^The history of Independency
in Manchester dates from the seventeenth century, when
the Rev. John Wigan, with others, formed an Independent
Church in the buildings now known as the Chetham College
in 1649. In the year 1672, a small and inconvenient room
in Cold-house Lane (now called Thomley Brow) was
licensed for the ministry of the Rev. Henry Newcome, who
came to Manchester in 1656 to succeed Richard HoUing-
worth at the Collegiate Church, but who, on the passing of
the Act of Uniformity in 1662, vacated his post In 1761
an Independent Church was formed there under the ministry
of the Rev. Caleb Warhurst, the congregation increasing so
much that in a short time it became necessary to look out
for a more commodious place of meeting. A suitable situa-
tion was found at the upper end of what was then known
as Hunter's Croft, Hunter's Lane, now called Cannon
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REV. TIMOTHY PRIESTLEY.
129
Street, running on the south side of it into Hanging Ditch,
near the comer of which streets John Byrom's house then
stood. A chapel was built there, a little back from the lane,
two cottages standing between. It appears that the Rev.
John Newton, the friend of Cowper, and one of the authors
of the Olney Hymns, was present at the opening in 1762,
not to take any active part in it, but '' to see some ministers
and friends with whom he was acquainted." Mr. Warhurst
lived with a Mr. Clegg, in Turner Street, and was only
pastor of the church three years, as he died in 1765. For
three years the church was without any minister, at the end
of which time the Rev. Timothy Priestley, brother of the
late celebrated Dr. Priestley, succeeded to the pastorate.
There were, however, continual feuds between the pastor
and his deacons. Dr. Halley tells us he was chaiged with
irreverently ascending the pulpit stairs with his hat on his
head, and with making packing-cases on Sunday nights. As
to wearing his hat on the pulpit stairs, he seems to have
treated the charge as an impertinence unworthy of notice ;
and as to the packing-cases, while the deacons kept him so
miserably poor, he thought it was his duty " to provide
things honest in the sight of all men," as well as to remember
the Sabbath day. Notwithstanding these things the church
prospered, and he remained its minister for nineteen years,
during which time the chapel was enlarged by the removal
of the two cottages and its being brought to the front of
Hunter's Lane. Mr. Priestley on resigning his charge went
to London, when he was succeeded by the Rev. David
Bradbury, from Ramsgate, who had not a very happy time
of it in consequence of disputes with some of his members,
K
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I30
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
who were Scotch, and who wished to appoint ruling elders.
The result was that a division took place, when several
members left the church, and assembled for public worship in
a building in St. Andrew's Lane, near Church Street In 1788
these seceders built Mosley Street ChapeL Mr. Bradbuqr,
after many unhappy disputes and a large secession of
members, resigned his charge and left the neighbourhood in
1795. I^ ^^^ y^^ *^^ R^v. William Roby, from Wigan,
succeeded to the pastorate of Cannon Street Chapel, which,
owing to his efforts, soon became too small, and it became
necessary to build a larger chapeL An eligible site was
found in Grosvenor Street, Piccadilly, and a chapel was
built, which was opened for divine worship in December,
1807, when the church, consisting of 236 members, with its
pastor and deacons, removed to it At first it was intended
to utilize Cannon Street Chapel as a branch of the Grosvenor
Street one, but ultimately, with Mr. Roby's consent, it
remained a distinct place of worship, and was enlarged in
1828. Amongst those who remained as worshippers at
Cannon Street may be named the ancestors of Messrs.
S. and J. Watts, of Portland Street, who then carried on the
retail drapery business, in Deansgate. Fifty years ago the
Rev. Samuel Bradley was the minister of Caimon Street,
having been previously that of Mosley Street ChapeL He
began his ministry at Caimon Street in 1827, and resigned
it in 1844, having married a member of the Bellhouse
family, who attended his ministry whilst at Mosley Street
His nephew, tHe late Mr. S. M. Bradley, the siu'geon, was
well known. In i860 the chapel was sold for ;^2,8oo, and
is now converted into business property, being occupied by
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REK WILUAM ROBY. 131
Messrs. W. and R. Lee. The church and congregation
have erected large and commodious premises in Chorlton
Road, to which they have removed Their increase under
the care of the Rev. J. A. Macfadyen, who became the
pastor in 1863, presents a history which, though very
interesting, is beyond the scope of these reminiscences.
The marvellously complete and unique organization of the
church is clearly exhibited in the "Year Book" of the
church, compiled by Mr. Charles Bailey, the brother of
Mr. John Eglinton Bailey, F.S.A., the learned author of
'*The Life of Thomas Fuller," and many other works.
Grosvenor Street.— We have seen that Grosvenor
Street Chapel, Piccadilly, was built m 1807, and that the
Rev. William Roby, with the greater part of his flock, re-
moved to it from Cannon Street He was the minister of
Grosvenor Street Chapel fifty years ago, but died in the
following year. Dr. Halley says he was a man of pleasing
simplicity, and aflected none of the formalities of a clergy-
man, while the style of his preaching retained something of
the clerical character. Churchmen and Dissenters who
loved the Gospel, loved to hear William Roby preach it
He preached to an exceedingly sympathetic congregation,
which earnestly co-operated in forwarding his designs,
whether of a philanthropic or a strictly religious nature.
His eflforts to promote the erection of places of worship in
less favoured districts were only equalled by his zeal in
providing means of instruction for young men who pro-
posed to enter the ministry. Through his instrumentality,
an institute was founded for this purpose, in Leaf Square,
Pendleton, and afterwards at Blackburn, but which was
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132 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
eventually developed into the Lancashire Independent
College, at Withington. From Grosvenor Street Chapel, in
the year 1817, there were sent out as missionaries Robert
Hampson, to Calcutta; John Ince, to Malacca; Samuel
Wilson, to Greece ; and to South Africa, Robert Moffat,
the father-in-law of Dr. Livingstone. In the year 1821
Thofnas Hughes was sent by Mr. Roby to Hoxton College,
and afterwards became the pastor of the Independent
Chapel at Stoke Newington. In the same year Elijah
Armitage, the brother of the late Sir Elkanah, was sent out
with his wife and family to the South Sea Islands, to
evangelize the heathen and teach them the cotton manu-
facturing and other industries; and others were sent out to
other places. While Mr. Roby was preaching at Grosvenor
Street, the Rev. Joseph Smith, a very popular preacher,
had collected a large congregation in Mosley Street Chapel,
and from these two congregations were formed several
others, as at New Windsor; Jackson's Lane, Hulme, since
removed to Stretford Road; and Rusholme Road. In
181 8 nineteen members were transferred from Grosvenor
Street to Salford, and formed the nucleus of a church in
Chapel Street Mr. Roby was assisted by three laymen, or
what the Wesleyans would call local preachers, who con-
ducted the services in certain country chapels, which were
under his care. These were, Jonathan Lees, smallware
dealer and property agent, St Mary's Gate; John Powers,
woollen draper, Market Street ; and Robert Powell, cashier
to Leese, Kershaw and Callender. Mr. Lees sometimes
occupied the pulpit of Grosvenor Street Chapel, in the
absence of Mr. Roby. Amongst the principal persons who
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MR. ROBY'S CONGREGATION.
133
attended Mr. Roby's ministry were the following: The
three partners in the firm of Fletcher, Burd, and Wood, the '
first of whom became a magistrate ; the firm afterwards
becoming Samuel Fletcher, Son, and Co., of Parker Street
Mr. Fletcher's connection with Roby Chapel extended over
a period of fifty years, Mr. Burd became an alderman, on
the establishment of the Corporation. There were also
amongst the worshippers Mr. Samuel Brooks, the banker ;
Mr. Lewis Williams, cotton spinner, London Road ; Messrs.
Rymer and Norris, solicitors, Norfolk Street; the family of
the Armitages, one of the brothers afterwards becoming Sir
Elkanahj Benjamin Joule, brewer, father of the present
Dr. Joule and of J. St B. Joule, J.P., of Southport; James
Kershaw, afterwards M.P. for Stockport, and his brother-
in-law James Sidebotham, recently deceased ; Thomas and
David Ainsworth; Stephen Sheldon, grocer, Shudehill;
Mr. (now Alderman) George Booth, and his brother Hugh ;
Isaac Shimwell, smallware dealer, St Mary's Gate; and
S. T. Porter, tutor to Benjamin Joule's two sons, who
became the minister first at Westhoughton, and after, co-
pastor with the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw for a few years, at Glasgow.
Other members of the congregation were the late Alderman
Rumney; Thomas Wright, the Prison Philanthropist;
Mr. John Griffiths, a hatter in Deansgate; Mr. Edward
Lewis, solicitor, who became a deacon, and was a member
of the congregation for nearly fifty years; Mr. Hugh
Sheldon; Mr. S. Goodwin, silk manufacturer; Mr. John
Holt, lead merchant; Mr. David Fletcher, Mr. John
Griffiths, Mr. John Acton, and Mr. George Beaumont,
a woollen draper. It was Mr. Rob/s custom to preach to
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134
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
the young on the evening of the first Sunday in the new
year. At the conclusion of this service, on the first
Sunday evening in January, 1830, he was carried home to
his house, in A3rtoun Street, in an exhausted condition,
and died in a few days, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
Miss Maria Jane Jewsbury, who then lived in Grosvenor
Street, Oxford Road, penned some verses on the occasion,
beginning, " I never knew him, but I knew his worth."
MosLEY Street Chapel. — We have seen that this chapel
was built in 1788, principally by some Scotch seceders firom
Cannon Street The chapel was enlaiged in 1819. The
first minister was the Rev. Mr. Kennedy, whom the seceders
invited firom Scotland, but his stay was a very brief one.
His successor was the Rev. Joseph Smith, from Rotherham
College, who became very popular, and married a lady of
considerable property. He shortly after relinquished his
charge and entered the cotton trade, residing till his death
at Strangeways Hall, but continuing to attend the chapel
The next minister was the Rev. Samuel Bradley, who held
the pastorate for some years, and eventually became the
minister of Cannon Street Congregation. His successor
was the Rev. Robert Stevens M'All, who was the pastor of
the church fifty yeai^ ago, and whose house was in Arlington
Place, Oxford Road, next to that of Mr. Richard Potter,
afterwards M.P. Mr. M'All was a minister at Macclesfield
at the time he received the pressing and unanimous invita-
tion of the Mosley Street church and congregation to become
their pastor. He had been a student in the Edinburgh
University, where he obtained his degree of .M.A. with
such distinction that the Senate afterwards spontaneously
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DR. M'ALL. 135
conferred on him the degree of LI^D. without his previous
knowledge. Mosley Street Chapel stood on the right-hand
side of Mosley Street going from Market Street, at the
second comer of Charlotte Street, the first one being
occupied by the Assembly Rooms, which, like the chapel,
was a plain brick building. The principal entrance to the
chapel was by means of a colonnade situated in Charlotte
Street, there being also a door in Mosley Street The
chapel itself was what it is the fashion with our aesthetic
friends to call a bam. But, bam or no bam, it was a very
comfortable place of worship, ^ more so than many places
which make great pretensions, but in which you can neither
see nor hear the preacher from certain positions. There
are many places of worship of a similar type in various
parts of the country, which have sacred and pleasant
associations, and which are revered and loved by those who
worship in them. During the ministry of Dr. M'All at
Mosley Street Chapel it has been stated that there were to
be seen more carriages drawn up at the chapel at the close
of the service than at any other church or chapel in
Manchester* The congregation often contained Church-
men and Dissenters of all creeds, who could appreciate
the highest style of pulpit oratory. I remember once
passing just when the congregation was coming out, and
being amazed at the number of carriages and coaches,
and at the crowd of people. I can call to mind one
occasion of my forming a part of the congregation when
Dr. M'All preached on a Sunday morning. The subject
of the discourse was the training of children, and I
well recollect how strongly he pleaded against corporal
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1 36 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
punishment, arguing that the rod spoken of by Solomon in
another passage must not be taken literally. It was my
privilege to hear Dr. M'All preach his very last sermon.
This took place at Oldham Street Chapel, on the evening of
Easter Monday, 1838, when he preached the annual sermon
to the Wesleyan Missionary Society of the Manchester
district and to a crowded congregaticm. His text was
from Isaiah : *' Mighty to save." He preached two hours,
pausing when half way through, the Rev. William Bunting
giving out a hymn, which was sung by the congregation.
Of his preaching it has been truly said '' that his reputation
for eloquence was only surpassed by the reality. His
accurate scholarship^ his cultured mind, his striking person,
his natural dignity, and his elegance of gesture, added many
charms to his close reasoning and his fervid oratory." The
following gentlemen with their families used to attend the
ministry of Dr. M*A11: James Holt Heron, cotton merchant,
whose house was in the Crescent, Salford, with his son, the
present Sir Joseph Heron, and the rest of his family;
Dr. J. Phillips Kay, afterwards Sir James Phillips Kay-
Shuttleworth j Thomas Harbottle, who was almost a giant in
size ; J. S. Grafton, father of the present Frederick William
Grafton, M.P., and his brother; Mr. John Roberton, the
eminent surgeon ; Dr. Jarrold ; Richard Roberts, chairman
of the Bank of Manchester ; W. R. Callender, father of the
late M.P. for Manchester ; J. B. Clarke, of the firm of
George Clarke and Co., cotton spinners; Thomas H. Bick-
ham and three sons; Wood and Wright, calico printers,
Clajrton Vale; William Woodward, wholesale grocer;
William Newall, grocer (NewalFs Buildings) ; John Latham,
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DR. JiPALVS CONGREGATION, \yj
cotton spinner; Hugh Warburton, afterwards councillor;
Rev. Joseph Whitworth, father of the present Sir Joseph ;
Robert Barge, calico printer; Daniel Procter; James Dil-
worth, cotton merchant ; Joseph Midwood, manu&cturer ;
John Fildes, afterwards M.P. for Grimsby; William, now
Alderman Sharp; James Lamb, cabinet maker; Thomas
and Henry Boddington; Thomas Roberts, of Roberts,
Dale, and Co., Combrook ; Thomas Hunter, of the firm of
J. C Harter and Co., drysalters. Chapel Walks; Rev.
Barzillai Quaife, tutor to*William Romaine Callender, jun.,
afterwards M.P., and Samuel Pope Callender, afterwards
a deacon at Zion Independent Chapel, the two sons of
W. R. Callender, sen. ; John and James Edwards, the former
being a prominent member of the Anti-Com-Law League ;
Thomas Shimwell, now a partner in the firm of E. Potter
and Co., calico printers ; Joseph Ramsey, of High Street,
who was secretary of the Juvenile Society; Henry Forth,
afterwards of the firm of Forth and Marshall, commission
agents, and William his brother; John Bradshaw, agent for
Newall's buildings and for other property belonging to
Mr. Newall, and who was also the dispenser of the poor's fimd
in connection with the church. He had three daughters,
the eldest of whom became the wife of Mr. W. P. Ellerby,
and the youngest of whom i«cas drowned when the
"Emma" was capsized. There was also Henry Pope, whose
three daughters were married to George Hadfield,
W. R Callender, sen., and Thomas Harbottle. The present
Samuel Pope, Q.C., is the grandson of Henry Pope, and
was the nephew therefore of the late Messrs. Hadfield,
Callender, sen., and Harbottle. The Rev. R. M. Davies,
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1 38 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
now an Independent minister at Oldham, was then a
young man connected with the church, and was sent to
study for the ministry at the Blackburn Academy (as it was
then called), and afterwards at the Withington CoU^e.
There was another young man who was a member of the
congrq^on about this time, whose name ought not to be
omitted That is John Cassell, of the firm of Cassell, Fetter,
and Galpin, the eminent publishers. He was about this
period a carpenter, having some of the habits of other
working men ; but one evening teas induced to attend a
temperance lecture in Oak Street Deeply impressed by
what he heard, he became firom that night a total abstainer.
Fired with zeal in a cause which he believed would prove
a blessing to his fellow-workmen, he shortly afterwards left
the joiner's bench and became a voluntary temperance
missionary, and joined the church, and, I believe the
Sunday-school, at Dr. M'All's. Furnished with a watch-
man's rattle, he used to go from village to village and invite
the people to his meetings, often suffering great privations
in his work. Ultimately he got to London, where he met
two good men who discovered the nobleness of his character
and his ability, clothed him in a respectable suit, and sent
him forth as a lecturer. By his love of reading and his remark-
able spirit of perseverance his mind and manners rapidly
improved, and he gradually lost his rough provincialism.
Having married, he became possessed of a sum suJCdendy
large to commence to print — first temperance tracts, then a
monthly periodical, and then a weekly paper, and became
widely known as the editor of the Warkitig Maris Friend,
His publications soon became too gigantic for one man to
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MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY. 1 39
manage, and he entered into partnership with the eminent
printers Messrs. Fetter and Galpin. Some years afterwards,
when spending a Sunday in Manchester, he went to the
Smiday-school with which he had formerly been connected,
and in an address to the scholars he alluded to his former
connection with the school He died in 1865, at the early
age of forty-eight After the decease of Mr. Roby the
following persons left Grosvenor Street Chapel and became
seat-holders at Mosley Street : James Kershaw, afterwards
M.P. ; James Sidebotham ; Joseph Thompson, grandfather
of the present Alderman Thompson; £lkanah, afterwards
Sir Elkanah Armitage; William £llerby, stationer. There
was a Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society in con-
nection with Dr. M^All's chapel, which used to meet in one
of the vestries upstairs, the entrance to which was in Back
Mosley Street When a young man, on the invitation of
one of the members, I joined it Its president was the
Rev. Francis Beardsall, a Baptist minister, who afterwards
went to America, and amongst its members were Mr. James
Lamb, Mr. W. P. EUerby, Mr. John Fildes, then cashier to
Messrs. Barge, calico printers, and afterwards M.P. for
Grimsby; and^ R. M. Davies, then quite a young man,
employed in a Manchester house. In due course he
became the Rev. R. M. Davies, and received a call from
the congregation of an Independent church at Oldham, the
minister of which he remains, I believe, to this day. At
this time the com laws were not abolished, but the subject
was exciting a good deal of attention ; and being, as I have
said, a young man, when it came to my turn to read a paper
before the society, I made an attempt to prove that the
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I40
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
abolition of those laws would prove the ruin of the country.
Referring to the time of which I am writing, one cannot
help saying "there were giants in those days," for
Manchester was often visited by several eminent Independent
ministers from other places, who were deservedly very
popular preachers, and who often filled the pulpits, prin-
cipally of Grosvenor Street and Mosley Street, on special
occasions. Amongst these were William Jay, of Bath ; John
Angell James, of Birmingham ; Dr. Winter Hamilton, of
Leeds ; Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool ; Dr. Harris, of Cheshunt;
James Parsons, of York; John Ely, of Leeds; Thomas
Binney, of London ; and Dr. Liefchild, of London. When
Dr. M'AU left home he frequently had his pulpit supplied
by Dr. Hamilton, of Leeds, and would make an announce-
ment to that effect, sajdng, " My noble fnend, Dr. Winter
Hamilton, will supply my place." It has been my privilege
to hear the whole of these preachers in Manchester. I
never willingly missed an opportunity of hearing ^ames
Parsons, whose sermons had a peculiar charm for me. From
a defect in his vocal oigans he had a very weak voice, and
was only heard when there was perfect stillness in the chapel.
There seemed to exist a tacit understanding between his
congregation and himself, the former preserving the most
complete stillness during the sermon, until Mr. Parsons, at
some suitable point in his discourse, made a pause, and
thus gave his audience liberty to cough and clear their
throats, of which they invariably availed themselves. To
anyone hearing him for the first time, the effect of the whole
congregation simultaneously being seized with a coughing
fit, which as suddenly subsided when the preacher was
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DR. APALVS PREACHING.
141
ready to begin afresh, was very singular. But his hearers
got accustomed to it. William Jay, of Bath, I heard
at the opening of Ducie Chapel, Cheetham Hill Road.
Dr. Winter Hamilton I heard one Sunday evening at
Dr. M'AlFs chapel preach from the words, "Was Paul
crucified for you ? " Dr. M*A11 died in the very zenith of
his popularity on the 27th of July, 1838, at the age of forty-
six, and was buried in Rusholme Road Cemetery. There
was a large concourse of people at his funeral, amongst
whom I was present His body was first taken to the chapel,
where there was a service, and an address given by the
Rev. John Ely. At the grave an oration was delivered by the
Rev. John Angell James. Dr. RafHes preached the funeral
sermon on the 5th of August following. On the monument
erected to Dr. M'All's memory he is described as "of com-
manding and attractive bodily presence, of mental powers
acute, brilliant, and profound, and gifted with an eloquence
seldom surpassed" Mr. Alderman Joseph Thompson has
kmdly furnished me with a few additional particulars con-
cerning Dr. M'AU and his chapel, and Roby chapel, which
are worth recording. The doctor preached long sermons,
and the deacons, remembering the Sunday-school, tried to
limit them, but in vain. One expedient tried was a gilded
ball, which was to be released at twelve o'clock by the
deacon who sat below, and set oscillating. It was tried
once, and failed The ball was let go, and swung backwards
and forwards, but the preacher stopped it with his hand,
and went on as if nothing had happened John Owens,
the founder of Owens College, formerly attended Mosley
Street Chapel, and had a large square pew. When
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142 MANCHRSTBR FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Dr. M'All became so popular, and attracted such crowds,
the half-empty square pew was regarded with covetous
eyes by the deacons, who greedily snapped up every spare
square inch of sitting room. Mr. Owens was asked to be
so good as to allow part of his pew to be let to others, but
he was so offended as to leave the place, and after for a
time joining the Unitarians, found his way to St John's
Church. Mr. Thompson's grandfather was superintendent
of the Sunday school connected with Roby chapel, in
1825, or earlier. He kept a diary, in which he recorded
his experiences of the difficulties of his office, and doubted
his fitness for the post because the young teachers would
go out of town, leaving their classes unprovided with
substitutes. How many superintendents are there at the
present day who could echo the same complaint! The
diary evidences how earnestly and prayerfully he watched
over his teachers and elder scholars, and how steadily he
visited the sick and soothed the dying. He had a son,
Joseph, who died about 1837, who seems to have been a
notable man in his day. He was a capital man of business,
so much so that he was appointed liquidator of a firm of
calico printers at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Kershaw
saying he would withdraw his opposition if Joseph
Thompson, jun., would act as liquidator. He was a
&ir musician, and had an organ, which was presented by
Mr. Alderman Thompson's father to the Chorlton Work-
house. He joined in violin and violoncello quartetts and
quintetts, Moses Hughes taking part therein. After
Mr. Roby died, he was the only person allowed to sit in
his chair, in which he read the scriptures to the widow.
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REV. JAMES GRIFFIN. 143
The chair is that in which Mr. Roby sat when his portrait
was taken, and was bought by the grandfather. It is now in
Mr. Thompson's possessioa I have heard from another
source that the gilded ball Mr. Alderman Thompson
speaks of was intended to strike a little bell ; that the '
apparatus was made by Peter Clare; and though made at
Dr. M'All's suggestion, it utterly fiuled in its design. The
Doctor became so absorbed in the flow of his own
eloquence that he seemed to treat it as a slight imperti-
nence, and took no notice of it beyond stopping its motion
with his hand, but would go on without let or hindrance
till one, and sometimes till half-past I am told also that
John Owens had a solitary sitting in the gallery of the
chapdy previous to his occupying the large square pew
downstairs.
RusBOLME Road Chapel was built principally through
the efforts of the late George Hadfield, afterwards M.P. for
Sheffield, and was opened for worship in 1 825. The first con-
gregation was composed mainly of persons from theGrosvenor
Street and Mosley Street chapels. The Rev. James Griffin,
a thin but interesting young man, became the pastor, under
whom the congregation and chiurch flourished. Besides
Mr. Hadfield, amongst the worshippers there were to be
found James, the father of Mr. Alderman Thompson;
the Hopkinson family, includmg the present alderman;
Dr. Henry Brown ; Henry Waterhouse, architect ; Thomas
Crighton, machinist; Mr. Melland, surgeon; John Parry,
lately deceased; Thomas Coward; Edward Wood; Charles
Cutting ; and Stanway Jackson. It happened that a certain
day in September, 1829, had been fixed both for the
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144
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
ordination of Mr. Griffin and for the wedding of Mr. James
Thompson. When this became known, Mr. Thompson
put the wedding off tiU the following day, so as to be able
to attend the ordination. Mr. Griffin often referred to it,
and regarded it as the greatest compliment ever paid to
him. Mr. Griffin for some years resided at Richmond
Terrace, Stretford Road, during which he was a guardian
of the poor for Stretford, which at the time was a part of
the Chorlton Union. Mr. James Thompson was also a
guardian in the same union, and was its chairman for some
years before his death, which occurred in i860.
Jackson Street Chapel, Hulme. — I am not able to
say in what year this chapel was built Fifty years ago
there was no stated minister attached to it, but shortly
afterwards the Rev. James Gwyther was chosen as its
pastor. He laboured very assiduously, and with such
success that shortly it became necessary to seek for more
commodious premises. Amongst the congregation at this
time were the late Edward Goodall, of King Street, and his
sister. A larger and more handsome structure was erected
on the Stretford Road, which was named Zion Chapel, to
which the church and congregation removed. Mr. Gwyther
remained their pastor till the infirmities of age compelled
him to give place to a younger man, when the Rev. Edward
Simon succeeded him.
Chapel Street Chapel. — We have seen that in 1 818,
nineteen members were transferred from Grosvenor Street,
to form the nucleus of a church in Chapel Street, Salford,
which was built near the end of New Bailey Street Its
first minister was the Rev. John Addison Coombs, who
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JIEV. JAMES PRJDDIE. 145
retained the position fifty years ago. He was ordained in
February, 1820, on which occasion there was no laying on
of hands. Dr. Winter, the unde of Dr. Winter Hamilton,
after the ordination prayer, ascended the pulpit to give the
charge, and b^an by lamenting and blaming the omission.
A large and flourishing congregation was gathered in the
course of time by Mr. Coombs' ministrations, which in-
cluded the late Mr. James Carlton, who then lived in
Strangeways, and shortly afterwards in Broughton Lane;
John Dracup, draper, Chapel Street ; James Hilton Hulme,
solicitor, of King Street, whose house was at Broughton ;
Thomas Gasquoine, cotton merchant, Bank Parade;
Mr. M'Clure, of Acton Square; Mr. Edge, the surgeon;
and Joseph Ward, now of Southport, who afterwards
attended the ministry of Dr. HaUey.
Windsor Bridge Chapel. — ^The minister of this chapel
in 1829 was the Rev. James Priddie. He was Mr. Rob/s
assistant in 181 6, on the occasion of his undertaking a
fortnight's preaching excursion to the populous towns and
villages within a distance of ten miles of Manchester, thus
preparing the way, as at Ashton and Oldham, for the esta-
blishment of new churches. In this he was greatly assisted
by Mr. Priddie. He subsequently resigned his position at
Windsor Bridge and accepted a call to Halifax. He was
succeeded at Windsor Bridge by the Rev. George Tayler.
Mr. (now Sir John) Hawkshaw, C.E., who, I am told, has
the scheme in hand for connecting France and England
by means of a submarine tunnel, when engineer of the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, was a member of this
congregation. The Rev. John Clunie, LL.D., who had a
L
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146
MANCHRSTBR FIFTY YEARS AGO.
good boys' school in Leaf Square, was also for many years
a member of the congregation, and when necessity arose
conducted the services.
The chapel in Lee Street, Ancoats, had no stated
minister fifty years aga
At the time of which we are speaking there were several
Independent ministers in other parts of Lancashire, one
of the most eminent of whom was the Rev. William
Alexander. He originally came from Scotland and became
the pastor of the Independent congregation of Prescot,
then of Leigh, and afterwards of Churchtown, near
Southport He was a friend of William Roby, and much
resembled him in spirit and in laborious zeal, frequendy
walking thirty miles in one day, sometimes preaching four
times on a Simday, and sometimes twice out of doors. He
died at the patriarchal age of ninety-two, in the enjoyment
of all his faculties. He was the father of the Rev. John
Alexander, of Norwich, and grandfather of Mr. John
Fletcher Alexander, the agent of the Liberation Society
here, who was himself educated for the ministry.
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ORIGIN OF METHODISM. 147
CHAPTER XII.
PLACES OF WORSHIP. — WESLEYAN METHODIST CHAPELS.
A^ETHODISM (to use its original name) was probably
^^ introduced into Manchester between the years
1733 and 1738. In the first of these years, Wesley had
visited Manchester and preached three times in three
different churches on one Sunday, one of them being the
Old Church. On the i6th of March, 1738, he and
Charles Elinchin, another member of the Holy Club at
Oxford (so called in derision), rode into Manchester late
at night, having ridden from Stafford that day. The next
day they spent with John Clayton, incumbent of Trinity
Chapel, Salford, another of the little band, '' by whom," says
Wesley, "and the rest of our friends here, we were much
refireshed and strengthened." The day after, Wesley and
Kinchin officiated at Trinity Church in the morning, and
St Ann's in the afternoon, Mr. Hoole, the rector having
been taken suddenly ilL The Rev. Benjamin Gregory
observes on this: ''It seems clear that before a class
meeting was formed in London there existed in
Manchester, if not a Methodist society, at least a
Methodist cirde. One of these 'fiiends' was doubtless
the celebrated Dr. Byrom, the poet and man of science, a
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148 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Fellow of the Royal Society, author of 'Christians, awake!'
and translator from the French of the noble hymn,
*0 thou who earnest from above."* This was twenty
years before Manchester began to export its manufactures,
and twenty-one years before the townspeople ceased to be
obliged to have all their com ground at the Irk mill
The first evidence of the existence of a "Methodist
Society" in Manchester is given in a letter dated 1747,
from John Bennett to Wesley, who says : " Some young
men of Manchester (that spoke with Mr. Charles when
he was with us last) have begun a society, and took a
room, and have subscribed their names in a letter to
Mr. Charles, desiring you will own them as brethren, and
visit them on your return." Their number was very small,
for when Richard Barlow, the first Methodist here whose
name is known, joined them, they were but fourteen or
fifteen. The room which these young men had taken
was a small apartment built upon a rock on the bank of
the Irwell, on the north side of Blackfriars Bridge, at the
bottom of a large yard known as the Rose and Crown
yard, and which was filled with wood-built thatched
cottages. The house containing the preaching-room was
three storeys high. The ground floor was a joiner's shop ;
the rooms in the middle storey were the residence of a
newly-married couple ; and the preaching-room was the
home of a poor woman, who there plied her spinning-wheel,
while her husband in the same apartment flung the shuttle.
Christopher Hopper, one of the early Methodist preachers,
speaking of a service he conducted there, says: "I preached
in an old garret that overhung the river near the bridge ;
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BIRCHIN LANE CHAPEL.
149
the coals were in one comer of the room, the looms in
another, and I was in danger of breaking my neck in
getting up to it When the congregation was collected
the first evening it did not consist of more than from
twenty to thirty persons." Such was the beginning of
Wesleyan Methodism in Manchester.
The next important step in its progress was the building
of a chapel in Birchin Lane, at the back of High Street, in
1750. The building was standing in 1829, and was then
occupied as a warehouse by Mary Bealey, the well-known
bleacher, and equally well-known as belongmg to a family
of eminent Wesleyans, to which reference has been made in
a former chapter. Before the chapel was ready to receive
the congregation, however, it had increased so rapidly that
the old room near the river would not contain it, and fairly
trembled under the weight, so as to produce considerable
consternation. In the emergency the same building which
had received Newcome and his congregation before Cross
Street Chapel was built, proved a refuge for these early
Methodists, who obtained the use of the Cold House
Chapel for a time.
Amongst the first members connected with Birchin
Lane Chapel were Thomas Fildes, grandfather of
Mr. James Fildes, of Spring Gardens, and originator of
Sunday Schools in Manchester, referred to previously;
Mary Bromley, for seventy years a Methodist, who died in
1826, at the age of eighty-nine; Adam Oldham, a felt
maker, one of the fu-st trustees of Birchin Lane Chapel, who
lived in a house on the site now occupied by the Albion
Hotel; Richard Barlow, who for sixty-five years rose at
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1 50 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
half-past four in summer and five in winter ; Mr. Brierley,
who met in Peter Kenworth/s dass, and was in its early
days leading singer at Oldham Street Chapel, and afterwards
a magistrate; John Mosley, a hatter in Millgate; and
Mrs. Bennett, the first female class-leader in Manchester.
Manchester, which at the present day contains thirteen
Wesleyan circuits, in 1752 was only part of what was
called the Cheshire circuit, and which included Lancashire,
Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and part of Yorkshire.
The contributions of the members of the society in
Manchester towards the support of the ministry in one
quarter of that year only amounted to £2, 3s. 5d. In
1765 Manchester became the head of a circuit, the first
ministers who were appointed to it being James Oddie,
John Oliver, John Murray, and Isaac Waldron.
Oldham Street Chapel was opened by John Wesley
on Good Friday, the 30th of March, 1781. He writes in
his journal : '' Friday, March 30. I opened the new
chapel at Manchester, about the size of that in London.
The whole congregation behaved with the utmost
seriousness. I trust much good will be done in this place.
Sunday, April i. I began reading prayers at ten o'clock.
Our country friends flocked in firom all sides. At the
Communion was such a sight as I am persuaded was never
seen in Manchester before, eleven or twelve hundred
communicants at once; and all of them fearing God."
This building has always been looked upon by Wesleyans
as next in importance and interest to City Road Chapel in
London, and by Manchester Methodists it has been
regarded almost in the same light as the Old Church is by
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WESLEYAN MINISTERS. 151
Episcopalians. There is a tradition amongst Wesleyans
that John Wesley regretted it was built so far out of town.
Little did he dream that in less than a hundred years it
would be seriously discussed by the Conference whether
it should be sold, because it was too near the centre
of the town ! To name the ministers who have been
appointed by the Conference to labour in the Oldham
Street circuit would be to name those who have been
the most eminent in the Connexion. Amongst them
are found the names of Adam Clarke, Jabez Bunting,
Robert Newton, Samuel Bradbum, Thomas Jackson,
James Everett, Joseph Benson ; John Gaulter, whose son
was a druggist in Piccadilly; Joseph Fowler, father of
Mr. Henry H. Fowler, the Liberal member for
Wolverhampton; James Wood, grandfather, and Robert
the fiither, of Mr. Bateson Wood, solicitor of this city ;
John Pipe, whose uncle was a rich man, and who, having
made a will in favoiu* of his nephew John, threatened to
disinherit him on his becoming a Methodist, and died
before he could execute his threat, John's two sons, Isaac
and William, being in partnership as silversmiths in Market
Street in 1829 ; Edmund Grindrod, whose daughter became
the wife of Mr. W. C. Rippon, of the Manchester and
Liverpool District Bank ; Miles Martindale, for some years
governor of Woodhouse Grove School, near Leeds, where
the author was educated; George Marsden, brother of a late
vicar of Eccles, before referred to ; John Stephens, father
of the late Rev. William Rayner Stephens, at one time a .
notorious political agitator; John &gg, father of a
former editor of the Watchman newspaper, and of
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152 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Dr. James H. Ri^^, the well-known principal of
Westminster Training Institution, and ex-president of the
Conference ; and William Edward Miller, who became one
of the most enthusiastic, energetic, and devoted of ministers.
He was the son of Dr. Edward MiUer, a man of literary
taste, refined manners, and great eminence as a professor
of music, and who was the popular organist of Doncaster
Church for fifty years. He was the instrument of
developing that profound astronomical talent which
distinguished the late Sir William HerscheU. The son,
when a young man, followed his father's profession, and
became an accomplished player on the violin. He went to
India, and having heard that in the court of Tippoo
Saib an exquisite instrument, was in use by one of
the Sultan's band, and having pushed his way to
Seringapatam, he so enchanted the sovereign by his
performance as to obtain possession of the prize. On
his return to England it became the idol of his soul.
When he became a Methodist, he was afraid it might
be a source of temptation, and with unexampled firmness
he laid it aside — though at the time he was esteemed the
second, if not the first, performer in England — ^with the
purpose never to touch it more, a resolution he kept to the
day of his death. The violin is now in the possession of
Mr. James Fildes, of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Mr, Miller
became one of the most earnest and popular preachers in
England. His son was one of my schoolfellows at Wood-
house Grove School. In 1829 the ministers of Oldham
Street Chapel were John Burdsall, Abraham Stead, Samuel
Dunn, and John Lomas. Burdsall lived at the comer of
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REV. SAMUEL DUNN.
153
Dale Street and Spear Street, and Dunn in Spear Street
From the hands of Samuel Dunn I received my note of
admittance on trial into the Methodist Society, which is
signed by him, and which I still retain. He was a disciple
of Dr. Adam Clarke, inasmuch as he professed to hold his
views on the " Sonship of Christ" In consequence he was
not ordained for many years, until he abandoned them,
which was after Dr. Clarke's death. He was a Cornish
man, and had an impediment in his speech which prevented
him sounding the R. Although he stood by Everett in his
dispute with the Conference at a later period in reference
to what were called the "Fly-sheets," and was expelled
with him and Griffiths as members of the Conference, he
took the Conservative side in politics. During his appoint-
ment to Oldham Street Chapel political feeling ran very
high in Manchester, and he had noticed the name of
Mr. Eli Atkin, who was then a member at Oldham Street,
on the committee of some association formed to promote
parliamentary reform. Mr. Dunn made it his business to
see Mr. Atkin, ii^ order to persuade him to have nothing to
do with politics, and especially with the Liberal party.
Mr. Dunn is still living in the enjoyment of tranquillity and
peace after a somewhat stormy life, and is now reconciled
to the Conference. During one of the open sessions of
the Bradford Conference of 1878, when the public were
admitted, I had the pleasure of seeing him on the platform,
shaking hands with many of the preachers around him.
The Oldham Street Circuit fifty years ago embraced
Cheetham Hill and Oldham Road and the district between ;
Grosve&or Street and Oxford Road Chapels having been
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154
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
built a few years previously, the more wealthy portion of
Oldham Street congregation had deserted it for the two
former places. The congregation of Oldham Street Chapel
at that time included Mr. John Roberts, the stationer,
of Market Street, whose pew was in front of the gallery
opposite the preacher, and which was kept locked, so
that, as the chapel was often crowded in those days,
he and his femily could always gain access to it;
Mr. John Brogden, father of Mr. Alexander Brogden, M.P.,
and his good-looking wife, who sat a few pews behind
Mr. Roberts; James Morris, afterwards a partner in
Satterfield's, and his mother, whose pew was near the
last-mentioned; Joseph England, a well-known painter
of Oxford Road; Alexander Braik, silk and shawl dyer, of
Oldham Street, the predecessor of Mr. John Berrie, and
who, with his wife, were good representatives of old
Methodism ; William Pollard, of Oldham Street, a tailor,
and one of the earliest teetotalers, as well as a local
preacher ; Micah Rose, said to be one of the best and
most obliging of tax collectors ever known, a native of
Castleton in the Peak; Mr. John Hull, a tall, thin, venerable
man, the representative of Mary Bealey, the bleacher, and
whose eldest son married Mrs. Roberts' youngest daughter;
Eli Atkin, now of Newton Heath, then of Dale and Atkin,
druggists. Swan Street ; Mark Abbey, baker, of Swan Street;
William Dentith, druggist, of Market Street, who, with his
apprentices, occupied a large square family pew downstairs
near the pulpit, the next to it being that of Hugh Greaves,
father of the late George Greaves, suigeon ; James Fildes,
wholesale grocer, father of Mr. James Fildes, of Chorlton-
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JAMES WILKINSON. 155
cum-Hardy; James Redfern, of Market Street, with his
fisither and brother ; Mr. Millward, father of Mr. Millward,
of Newton Heath; Mr. Samuel Stocks, father of
Mrs. Thomas Farmer, whose husband was a well-known
and wealthy Wesleyan and a liberal contributor to its
funds, who died a few years ago ; and Mr. W. R. Johnson,
a friend of my master's, a partner in the firm of
Sedgwick, Son, and Johnson, drapers, St Ann's Square,
and afterwards a partner in the house of Alexander Henry
and Ca He retired on a handsome fortune, and died a
few years since near Alderley Edge. Fifty years ago Oldham
Street Chapel contained no organ, but the orchestra
consisted of two violoncellos, a double bass (sometimes two),
and a bass horn. Mr. Thomas Swindells, of Heaton Moor,
who played the violoncello many years, still survives. The
leading singer was a fine old fellow, with a capital voice,
James Wilkinson. A few years later Robert Newton was
appointed to the circuit, and frequently preached at
Oldham Street on a Simday evening, the service begining
then at six o'clock. He was always in the pulpit before
the time, seated and waiting for the clock to indicate that
moment, when he would rise and give out the first hymn.
He was very fond of that beautiful hymn of Scheffler's,
translated by Wesley, beginning, " O God of good, the un-
fathomed sea ! " with which to begin the service. I do not
remember anything finer of the kind than Newton's giving
out of this hymn, followed by Wilkinson's setting to it the
grand old tune, known as Marienbourn, a crowded congrega-
tion joining in singing it I need not say that Robert Newton,
with his large, bold, and handsome features, splendid
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1 56 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
voice, and commanding presence, was one of the
most popular orators of the day. It used to be
seriously related of him that one evening he was
preaching in Wakefield, and that a lady who was in the
habit of attending the theatre, at the solicitation of a
friend, went to hear him. After she had heard him give
out his hymn, she became convinced that she was listening
to no other than John Kemble. She went home and
assured her husband that Jack Kemble was in the pulpit,
and induced him to return with her. He did so, the
result being that both husband and wife became members
of the Methodist Society. Newton was gifted with a
robust constitution, and for at least thirty years the whole
of his time except Sundays was spent in travelling, mostly
on the top of a coach, from place to place, making
missionary and other speeches, and preaching for various
objects. In this respect he was known from one end of
the kingdom to the other. To return to James Wilkinson,
he kept a music shop nearly opposite the chapel in Oldham
Street, and next door to the smallware shop of Mr. James
Varley, the father of Mrs. Linnaeus Banks (who had
another in Market Street). The family appear to have
been musical, his son William being a teacher of music,
and his grandson^ whose name was Gregory, being an
accomplished violinist, and one of the early members of
Charles Hallos orchestra. At that day the Wesleyan
Schools on the Wednesday of Whit-week used to per-
ambulate the streets, and assemble on Ardwick Green,
where they sang several hymns, accompanied by a trumpet
played by Peter Duckers, James Wilkinson standing in the
centre and leading them.
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je^r. CLELAND KIRKPATRICK.
157
Irwell Street Chapel. — ^The whole of Manchester
and Salford was included in the Oldham Street Circuit
till 1813, when Salford was separated from it and made
a second circuit The only Wesleyan Chapel then
existing in Salford was Gravel Lane, which was built in
1790. Irwell Street Chapel, which subsequently became
the head of the circuit, was not built till 1826. The
first ministers appointed to the circuit in 1813 were
Cleland Kirkpatrick, Thomas Dowty, and William Jones.
Kirkpatrick, before he became a minister, was in the
Royal Navy, and in an engagement with Paul Jones, the
dashing American officer, during the War of Independence,
lost one of his arms, which was substituted by a false one.
Kirkpatrick's religion had not destroyed his sailor-like love
of fun, for, on going to a village in a new circuit,
arrangements were made for him to stay all night at the
house of one of the members. He was shown to his room
by the servant girl, who remained a moment or two to
arrange the bed, during which he took off his coat,
unfastened his false arm, and laid it on the table.
Perceiving the ^rl's attention was arrested, and that she
looked very bewildered at the operation, he went to the
looking-glass and pretended to unscrew his head. This
was too much for the girl, who flew downstairs almost
head first, exclaiming, '^ Lors a' mercy, missis, the preacher's
taken his arm off, and now he's a screwing his head off!"
In 1829 the ministers of the Salford circuit were
Jabez Bunting, Robert Wood (before referred to), and
John Kirk. Bimting was bom in Manchester, his father
being a tailor. A short time previously his parents resided
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1 58 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
at Monyash, in Derbyshire, where one of 'the early
Methodist ministers preached one night, when on his way
to set sail for New York, he being one of the two first
ministers who introduced Methodism there. Mrs. Bunting,
who was expecting to become a mother, heard him preach
firom the prayer of Jabez, i Chronicles, c. 4 v. 10. She
resolved that if she should be the mother of a son, his
name should be Jabez, which came to pass. After being
an assistant to Dr. Perdval, F.R.S., of King Street, he
entered the Wesleyan ministry in 1799, the same year
in which Robert Newton also entered it The late
Mr. Robert Henson, of the firm of Broadhurst, Henson,
and Co., told me he heard Mr. Bunting preach one of
his first sermons, in a small room in Salford when quite
a young man. Since the death of Wesley no minister in
the Wesleyan body attained such an eminence as he did,
or was able to wield such an influence for the good of
the Connexion. It was often said that had his lot been
cast in Parliament nothing could have prevented him
being prime minister. He and Robert Newton were
the only two ministers who have been presidents of the
Conference four times. He was a fiiend of my father's
and I was firequently thrown into his society. I remember
meeting him at the house of Mr. John Roberts, the
stationer, when the conversation turned on the slender
attendance at the week-night services at the^ chapeL
Mr. Roberts said the reason no doubt was that the
congregation got such long sermons on the Sunday it
satisfied them for the week. "Nay, my fiiend," said
Bunting, "it is just the opposite; finding that people will
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yASEZ BUNTINCS TACT. \ 59
not come to the week-nigbt services, when we do get them
on a Sunday we therefore keep them a little longer.'' As
an instance of this tact, I may be allowed to give the
following anecdote. On one occasion, when he was
President of the Conference, there was a vacancy in what
is called ''the Legal Hundred,'' that is, the hundred
ministers who form the legal Conference in accordance
with Wesley's poll-deed, such vacancy to be filled in this
instance by seniority. There were two ministers equally
eligible, Mr. Walker and my father, both having begun the
ministry in 1804. Mr. Bunting put it to the vote which of
the two should be elected. On counting the votes he
announced them to be equal, and added, ''which of you
brethren will give way?" My father instantly rose and
said : " I will, Mr. President" " Then, Brother Slugg," he
said, " I ^ve you my casting vote ; " and my father was
elected amidst the applause of his brethren. Amongst
other ministers appointed to the Irwell Street Circuit were
William Atherton, father of the late Sir William Atherton,
Attorney-General; Thomas Squance, one of the early
missionaries to India; William Bramwell, Charles Attmore,
and James Townley. Amongst the persons who formed
the congregation of Irwell Street fifty years ago were
Mr. Alderman Davies, of Salford, and his father;
Mr. James Duke, silversmith, of the Market Place, his
house being in St Stephen's Street; Mr. John Morris,
auctioneer (whose widow is still living, and whose pew
contained several bonny girls, his daughters);
Mr. George Peacock, draper, Deansgate, whose three sons
are prosperous merchants at the Cape of Good Hope;
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l6o MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Peter Drummond, draper, Deansgate, father of
Dr. Drummond, and my brother's master; William Hill,
of the firm of Smith, Hill, and Co., drapers, Millgate,
who, as I have before stated, was boroughreeve of Salford
afterwards ; John Dale, of Dale and Hume, hat manufac-
turers. Water Street ; Mr. and Mrs. Fynney Johnson, who
had a large glass shop at the St Mary's Gate end of
Deansgate, where they kept open house for Wesleyan
ministers; and Mrs. Crowther, the widow of the
Rev. Jonathan Crowther, a coadjutor of John Wesley's,
and President of the Conference in 1819. She received
her ticket of membership firom the hand of Wesley himself
in 1790, and died in 1869, at the extreme age of ninety-
five years. She had handsome features and a dignified
though not a haughty bearing, and in her later years
presented a pleasing picture of a fine old English lady.
Her youngest son, Mr. Joshua Crowther, accountant,
of this city, having been in the same form with me
at Woodhouse Grove School, Mrs. Crowther became
the first firiend I had on becoming an apprentice.
I firequently visited her family on a Sunday, and
accompanied them to Irwell Street Chapel in the evening,
and well remember all whose names I have mentioned.
The chapel was a large and handsome structure, possessing
a very fine mahogany pulpit and reading desk below. I
remember Robert Newton one Sunday morning reading
prayers, after which Jabez Bunting preached, during which
Newton remained in the desk just beneath Buntmg. I placed
myself in the gallery, right opposite, that I might enjoy the
sight of two such eminent men sustaining such relative
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THE REV, WILLIAM ATHERTON. 1 6 1
positions, which to me was most interesting. Irwell Street
Chapel had a burial ground attached, the chief rent of
which, added to that of the ground on which the chapel
was built, and the interest of a large debt left on the
building, formed a heavy burden on the trustees for many
years. A few years since a noble and successful effort was
made to provide for the payment of the chief, and to pay
off the mortgage.
Gravel Lane Chapel we have seen, after Oldham
Street, is the oldest Wesleyan chapel in Manchester. It
was built in 1790. Fifty years ago the principal seat-
holder was Mr. John Downes, an extensive hat manu-
facturer, near St Mary's Church. He married a sister of
Mrs. Mary Bealey, the bleacher, and of Dr. Warren*s wife,
his house being in Strangeways. When I was an apprentice
we used to do business with him. He was one of the most
precise and exact men of business I ever knew. The father
of the late Sir William Atherton used to preach in this
chapel, and was what is called a memoriter preacher.
Every sentence was carefully prepared beforehand and
fitted into its place, like stones for a building. He was, in
consequence, generally in a very nervous state whilst
preaching, and used to lay hold of anything convenient
and grip it fast For this purpose, two good-sized knobs
were screwed into the inside of the firont of the pulpit of
Gravel Lane Chapel, and are there to this day, so that he
could lay hold of one or both. Some idea of his style may
be formed from the following illustration I once heard him
give. He was speaking at a missionary meeting, and
said : '' Some of you will say, you come to us and tell us
M
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l62 MANCHESTER FIFTY YSARS AGO.
that the gold and the silver and the cattle on a thousand
hills are all the Lord's; and then you come to us at
another time and begin to beg for the Lord; how is it?"
Said he : " 111 tell you how it is ; the gold and the silver are
the Lord's, but he has lent it out, and many of you have
some of it, and are paying so little interest for it that if you
don't pay better interest the Lord may call it all in, both
capital and interest" I have his autograph, with scores of
others of old Wesleyan ministers. Under his name he has
written: "A man severe he was, and stem to view; I
knew him well, and many others knew." A not very inapt
description of himself.
Bridgewater Street Chapel was the third Wesleyan
chapel built in Manchester. It was opened somewhere
about 1800, but did not become the head of a circuit till
the year 1827, having been previously a part of the Oldham
Street one. Amongst those who worshipped there were
Mr. Daniel Sandbach, a large tanner in Lloyd Street ; Mrs.
Mary Brewer, of Bridgewater Street, mother of Mr. John
Brewer, of Wheelton, Brewer, and Buckland, Mr. Wheelton
being the Sheriff of London imprisoned by order of the
House of Commons, before referred to ; Mr. James Sewell,
cotton spinner, who is interred in the burial ground at-
tached to the chapel, and one of whose family is the wife of
Mr. Richard Haworth, J.P.; and Mr. Robert Barnes, father
of the late Mr. Robert Barnes. Mr. Barnes the elder was an
accountant, having his office for nearly twenty-five years at
No. 2, Palace Street, his residence being at one time in
Berwick Street, Chorlton Row, then in Faulkner Street, and
finally at Newton Lodge, Oldham Road. He is buried in
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MR. ROBERT BARNES. r63
the ground attached to the chapel, against a wall which
divides the ground from Bridgewater Street. In the vestry
of the chapel is a well-executed portrait in oil of him
in a good state of preservation, presented by the late
Mr. Barnes. He died November 29, 1824, aged fifty-nine
years. The late Mr. Robert Barnes bequeathed ;^3,ooo
to the trustees of the chapel in commemoration of his
father, in order to provide for the ground rent and put the
chapel and minister's house in goo4 repair, making it a
condition that the minister should always reside in the
house. There is a very handsome mural tablet by Bennison
and Son erected in the chapel to Mr. Barnes' memory, and
recording the bequest. Fifty years ago the two sons of the
elder Mr. Barnes, Thomas and Robert, were in partnership
as cotton spinners in Jackson's Street, having removed from
Oldham Road, where they first began. They were very
successful and acquired a large fortune. At the death of
Thomas, the elder brother, who was a bachelor, Robert
inherited his property and carried on the business on
his own account He subsequently sold the business to
W. R. Callender and Sons, and shortly after the sale told
a friend of mine that for many years he had made a yearly
profit of ;;^8,ooo or ;^9,ooo. He was an alderman of
Manchester, and mayor in the years 1851 to 1853.
Swan Street Chapel. — ^At the beginning of the present
century there were a number of pits of water, known as the
Shudehill Pits, at the upper end of Shudehill, extending
into what is now Swan Street On a part of their site a
Wesleyan chapel known as Swan Street Chapel was built in
1808, but which was converted into shops and dwelling-
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164 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
houses in 1823. I have heard my &ther refer to the fact
of his having preached in the chapeL About this time
Oldham Street Chapel was so full it was impossible to get
a sitting.
Chancery Lane Chapel, Ardwick. — In 18 17 a build-
ing was erected in Chancery Lane, Ardwick, the upper
part of which was used for a chapel and the lower for a
Sunday school When opened, the congregation included
Mr. JamesWood,of WoodandWesthead; Mr. Francis Marris,
of Marris, Son, and Jacksons \ the father and his &mily of
Mr. John Napier, afterwards of the firm of Napier and
Goodair, spinners and manufacturers, of Manchester and
Preston, now of Plymouth Grove ; and others of the more
wealthy Wesleyans who began to reside on the southern
side of the town. On the first Sunday of the school being
opened a goodly number of scholars presented themselves,
as well as teachers, amongst the latter of whom were a
young man and his sister, the former being appointed
teacher of the alphabet class. He lives to this day to witness
the great development of Methodism during the last sixty-
three years, and to be able to devote the leisure of a serene
old age to the discharge of many active duties in connection
with its operations. I allude, of course, to the venerable
Mr. John Napier.
Grosvenor Street Chapel was built in 181 9 and
opened in 1820. The Revs. Jabez Bunting, Richard
Watson, George Marsden, and John Stephens were the
ministers who officiated on the occasion. Notwithstanding
handsome subscriptions and collections, a debt of ;^5,ooo
was left on the premises, and remained nearly forty years,
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GROSVENOR STREET CONGREGATION.
165
when successful efforts were made to remove it At the
same time funds were found for the erection of laige and
commodious day and Sunday schools on the site of what
was the ministers house annexed to the chapel, the entire
property being now free from all encumbrance. Amongst
the first worshippers here were James Wood, with his
interesting family; Edward Westhead, with his three sons —
J. P. Westhead, some time M.F. for York; Edward, stQl
living at Surbiton, in Surrey, who married the daughter of
Geoige Royle Chappell ; and John, long since deceased,
who married a daughter of James Wood ; John Marsden,
brother of the Rev. George Marsden, and of a late vicar of
Ecdes; Francis Harris and his son John; George Royle
Chappell, with his fine family of daughters; Robert Barnes,
with his excellent mother; Samuel Stocks, the father of the
late Mrs. Fanner; William Allen, father of the member for
Newcastle-under-Lyme; Robert Henson, a former partner
of Mr. Broadhurst, the first City Treasurer; John Gom
Baker, cotton merchant. Crow Alley; John Harrison;
Mrs. Fogg; Thomas Townend; Luke Gray, manufactiu:er ;
Joshua Rea and his partner ; John Lomas, of High Street ;
George Lomas ; Joseph Hardy, diysalter, Ardwick ;
Charles Beswick; W. R. Johnson; AVilliam Burd, calico
printer, and afterwards the first and inde&tigable agent of
the Star Life Insurance Society; and Mr. John Napier.
There was another member of the Grosvenor Street con-
gregation whom I remember, and who, though not a man
of wealth or iM)rldly position, deserves honourable mention,
affording proof that there are other gifts than wealth which a
man may contribute to any good cause which he espouses.
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1 66 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
and which are still more valuable. The Rev. Mr. Dale,
the Congregationalist minister of Birmingham, in his admir-
able address to the Wesleyan Conference, which was held
in Birmingham, spoke of the great importance of what is
known as the class-meeting, and exhorted all Wesleyans to
fidelity to their principles in this respect; pointing out how
largely their success depended upon it William Silkstone,
the man I speak of, was one of the most devoted and
successful class-leaders I ever knew. Although an over-
looker in Wood and Westhead's mill, and, as such, occupied
from early to late, yet for a number of years he had the
charge of three large classes, numbering between one and
two hundred members, and visited his absentees weekly,
looking after their temporal and spiritual wants. After a
long life of devoted labour he passed peacefully away,
highly esteemed and greatly loved by the many that knew
him. A mural tablet is erected to his memory in Grosvenor
Street Chapel I must not omit to mention the name of
Mr. George Grundy, who has been a member of the Society
and organist at Grosvenor Street for nearly fifty years, and
is still found at his post every Sunday.
Oxford Road Chapel was built in 1826, and at the
same time Ancoats Lane Chapel, the trustees being the same.
In addition to Messrs. James Wood, Edward Westhead,
G. R. Chappell, Robert Barnes, and Robert Henson, who
left Grosvenor Street and came to Oxford Road, the
following worshipped there fifty years ago : John Femley,
T. P. Bunting, John Sandbach (father* of the late
John Sandbach), John Heyhurst, John Mason, and
William Carter, of Ormond Street. The ministers of the
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REV. RICHARD WATSON. 167
Grosvenor Street circuit at that time were Richard Watson,
John Sumner, John Hannah, and ^^^lliam M. Bunting, son
of Jabez Bunting. The repute of Richard Watson still
exists as one of the greatest divines the Wesleyan body
ever possessed, as well as a most eloquent preacher and
speaker. I once was in his company, when a boy, my father
having been invited to speak at a missionary meeting at
Rochdale, at which Watson was to speaL I walked over
from Bacup with my fisither, and met him at the house of
Mr. Booth, the druggist I remember him sitting on one
side of the fire, and smoking from a long pipe. He was
spare and tall, but had the head of a Socrates. Fifty years
ago the Grosvenor Street chrcuit extended from Droylsden
on the east to Northenden and Chorlton-<nim-Hardy on the
south-west, and included also Openshaw, Bradford, Ancoats,
Oxford Road, and George Street, Hulme. In 1846 it was
divided, Oxford Road becoming the head of a circuit,
which was itself divided in 1867, Radnor Street becoming
the head of the new circuit
Chorlton-cum-Hardy. — Methodism appears to have
been introduced into this little village at a very early date.
It is said to have been introduced by a Methodist soldier
in 1770, who came to Manchester with a few friends, and
who, dressed in his uniform, preached on the village green.
In 1800, class meetings were established in Chorlton,
before which time services were held at a thatched cottage
inhabited by John Johnson, behind the present National
Schools, and in a bam at present occupied by Mrs. Higgin-
botham. The first chapel was erected in 1805. It was a
small square building, in which the women sat on one
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1 68 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
side and the men on the other. This gave place to a
larger structure (now used as a Sunday school) in 1827,
built at a cost of jQ(i^o. The present chapel was erected
eight years ago at a cost of ;^5,6oo. The Sunday school
was opened in 1805, there being no other in the village at
that time. It is worthy of mention that the early race of
Methodists in Chorlton, before they had a chapel of their
own, used to attend the early service at Oldham Street,
which began at seven a.m., on the Sunday. Amongst them
was Jeremiah Brundrett, the grandfather of the present race
of Brundretts, which includes the wife of our friend
Mr. John Rowbotham, lately the valued committee derk
of the Corporation.
Cheetham Hill. — Methodism was introduced into
what was then the village of Cheetham Hill through
the instrumentality of Mr. Samuel Russell, the partner of
Mr. Sowler, the grandfather of the present proprietor of
the Courier. Mr. Russell was the father of the wife of
Mr. John Napier, and in the first instance opened his
kitchen as a Methodist preaching-room about the year
1808. Such accommodation was soon found to be
inconvenient and insufficient He next built a room
over his coachhouse, where the services were held for
some years. This, too, in time became too small, and the
first chapel was built in the village, which, since the
erection of the present large and handsome one, has
become the mortuary chapel of the cemetery there, which
contains so many of the Wesleyan dead. This has been
the principal Wesleyan place for burial for one or two
generations, and on that account is, to an old Methodist,
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CHRETHAM HILL CHAPEL. 169
an interesting spot The old chapel was opened in 181 7,
by Dr. Adam Clarke. Mr. Russell, who may be con-
sidered the fisither of Methodism in the place, was just
permitted to see the accomplishment of that which he so
desired, for he died shortly after the opening of the chapeL
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I 70 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER XIII.
PLACES OF WORSHIP. — ^UNITARIAN CHAPELS.
TN the tabular statement which I have given of the
number of churches and chapels existing in Manchester
fifty years ago, the number of Unitarian Chapels is stated
to be four. One of these, however, was in the suburbs.
Hence there were only three Unitarian Chapels in
the town — namely, in Cross Street, Mosley Street, aqd
Greengate.
Cross Street Chapel is the oldest Dissenting place of
worship in Manchester. The present chapel is the second
built on the site, the first having been erected in 1693 for
a Presbyterian congregation collected by Henry Newcome.
This gentleman was not a Fellow, the Rev. C. W. Bardsley
tells us, but a stipendiary curate of the Collegiate Church,
which he crowded to overflowing by his simple and earnest
discourses. In 1662, the Act of Uniformity was passed,
and Newcome vacated his post He preached his last
sermon as an Episcopalian in Bowdon Church, whilst staying
with Lord Delamere at Dunham Park. After officiating for a
time in the Cold House Chapel already referred to, which
was licensed for him, he became the minister of the first
Cross Street Chapel as already stated Jane Meriel, the
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CI^OSS STREET CHAPEL. \ J i
wife of Edward Mosley, of Hulme Hall, helped to build
the chapel, and became Newcome's patroness to the time of
his death, and many individuals of rank were amongst his
constant hearers. It is said of him, "that great men
courted his acquaintance, and to the meanest Christian he
was a most cordial friend'* In 1715, on the birthday of
James the Third, a Jacobin mob which paraded the streets,
led on by Thomas Syddall, the peruke maker, proceeded
to the chapel in Cross Street, smashed its windows and
doors, overturned its pews and pulpit, and almost destroyed
the place. Parliament granted ^^1,500 for its restoration,
and it was enlarged again under the popular ministry
of Dr. Barnes, in 1788. During the latter part of
Mr. Newcome's life he was assisted in his work as a pastor
and teacher by Mr. Chorlton, a fit coadjutor of Newcome,
who died in 1705. After his death Mr. James Coningham,
who had been educated at Edinburgh, accepted an
invitation to become co-pastor with Mr. Chorlton, in 1700.
One of the most noted of the early ministers of this chapel
was Mr. Joseph Mottershead, who was educated at Atter-
cliffe, near Sheffield, under Timothy Jollie, and was
ordained when only twenty. He died in 177 1, at the age
of eighty-three, having been the minister of Cross Street
chapel fifty-four years. His assistant was Mr. Seddon, who
married his daughter. The latter was succeeded by
Mr. Gore, and Mr. Mottershead by Mr. Ralph Harrison,
whose only daughter married Thomas Ainsworth, and
became the mother of William Harrison Ainsworth. She
died in 1842. In 1780, Mr. Gore was succeeded by
Dr. Thomas Barnes, whose popular style attracted a large
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1 72 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
congregation, and who died in 1810, having been pastor
of the church thirty years. He was succeeded by
Mr. John Grundy, the uncle of our worthy ex-mayor, who
excited considerable attention by a course of lectures on
Unitarianism, which were published in two volumes octavo.
He afterwards removed to Liverpool, and died near Brid-
port in 1843. The Rev. John Gooch Robberds, bom at
Norwich, and educated at the York College, became
Mr. Grundy's coadjutor on the death of Mr. Harrison.
The Rev. John Hugo Worthmgton became the colleague
of Mr. Robberds, until cut off by death when very young
He was succeeded by the Rev. William Gaskdl.
Mr. Robberds and Mr. Gaskell were the ministers in 1829.
Mr. Robberds was held in high esteem by his congregation
on account of his many fine qualities. Amongst other
accomplishments, he had an extensive acquaintance with
various ancient Eastern languages. He died in 1854, his
wife surviving him twenty years. She was the daughter of
the Rev. William Turner, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and was
perhaps held in even greater esteem than her husband.
A simple but beautiful tablet, with brass plate attached,
recording the virtues of husband and wife, is afi&xed to the
west wall of the chapel Mr. Gaskell was bom at
Warrington, and still lives in the enjoyment of the cordial
respect and affection of his people after a fifty-one years'
ministry. Mrs. Gaskell died some years since, and is
buried at Knutsford, where her childhood and youth had
been passed An admirable tablet on the east wall of the
chapel records her well-known talents and refined character.
The Cross Street congregation has always been remarkable
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CHOSS STREET CONGREGA TION. \ 73
for the high social and intellectual position of its members.
In the year 1829 there were no less than a dozen gentle-
men who afterwards became members of Parliament, and
five who became mayors of Manchester, who attended
either Cross Street or Mosley Street Unitarian chapels.
The following were members of the Cross Street congrega-
tion: Benjamin, afterwards Sir Benjamin Heywood, and
M.P. for the comity; James Heywood, afterwards
M.P. for the northern division of the county; John,
afterwards Sir John Potter, M.P. for the city, and
three times mayor; Richard Potter, afterwards M.P.
for Wigan ; Thomas Bayley Potter, the present M.P. for
Rochdale; James Aspinall Turner, afterwards M.P. for
Manchester; Alexander Henry, M.P. for the county;
J. B. Smith, M.P. for Stirling and for Stockport; and
Robert Needham Philips, the present M.P. for Bury. Also
Thomas Potter, Alexander Kay, Ivie Mackie, and Abel
Heywood, afterwards mayors of Manchester; Edward
Holme, M.D., F.R.S., vice-president, and after John
Dalton's death, president, of the Literary and Philosophical
Society, of whom there is a portrait in the lecture room of
the society ; John Edward Taylor, proprietor and editor of
the Manchester Guardian^ whose house was in the Crescent,
Salford ; John Touchet, merchant, of Chancery Lane, whose
house was at No. 29, King Street, and afterwards of Broom
House; James Darbyshire, John Hall, Scholes Birch,
Henry Marsland, cotton spinner, Marriott's Court ; Samuel
Marsland, of Nelson Street, Chorlton Row ; Samuel Kay,
solicitor, of the Adelphi, Salford ; Thomas Robinson, whose
house was in Bond Street ; Samuel Alcock, executor of
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1 74 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
John Owens, founder of Owens College ; Willi»n, after-
wards Sir William Fairbaim \ and John Shuttleworth, who
was at that time a cotton and twist dealer, and agent to
W. G. and J. Strutt, of Derby, his warehouse being in
Newmarket Buildings, and his house in Oxford Road He
afterwards was appointed stamp distributor for this district,
and on the incorporation of Manchester became an alder-
man. Fifty or sixty years ago John Shuttleworth and
Absolom Watkin were perhaps the most effective speakers
in Manchester, Watkin being the more refined and
Shuttleworth being possessed of more power and energy.
It used to be said that as he was wont to give utterance to
very radical sentiments, the Government appointed him to
the office of distributor of stamps for this district to induce
him to keep his mouth shut He had a brother who at a
later date was a dissenting minister, and who was also a
very effective speaker during the Anti-Gom-Law agitation.
Few strangers who look at the plain uninviting edifice at
the comer of Chapel Walks, would imagine what a hand-
some interior it possesses. There is still a very dis-
tinguished congregation to be found worshipping there.
The organ is a very fine instrument, presented as a memo-
rial of two highly respected gentlemen — Mr. John Carver
and Mr. James Darbishire. The accomplished amateur
organist who now presides at it is the son-in-law of one of
these gentlemen, and son of the other. In addition to
several other tablets is one attached to a pillar in memory
of Sir William Fairbaim, D.C.L. and F.R.S., and another
on the east wall in memory of Samuel Jones, the banker,
and his wife, the uncle and aunt of Lord Overstone.
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MOSLEY STREET UNITARIAN CHAPEL. 1 75
MosLEY Street Unitarian Chapel stood at the comer
of Marble Street, on the site now occupied by the establish-
ment of Mr. H. J. NicoU, and was built in 1789. The first
minister was the Rev. William Hawkes, who died in 1820,
after a ministry of thirty-one years, and was succeeded by
the Rev, John James Tayler, B.A., who was the minister
in 1829. A liturgy accommodated to the doctrines of
Unitarianism was at that time used on the Sunday fore-
noon. This congregation was also wealthy and influential,
and devotedly attached to their accomplished yoimg
minister. The following gentlemen were members of it
about 50 years ago : George William Wood, M.P. for the
county, and then for Kendal ; Edmund Potter, afterwards
M.P. for Carlisle ; Robert Hyde Greg, afterwards M.P. for
Manchester; William Duckworth; Dr. Henry, F.R.S. ;
Peter Ewart, cotton spinner, whose house was m Cavendish
Street, Chorlton Row, both he and Dr. Henry being
vice-presidents of the Literary and Philosophical Society ;
George Humphreys, solicitor, whose house was in Oxford
Road ; Leo Schuster, who lived in Mosley Street ; John
Kennedy, of Ardwick House ; Henry M'Connell, Leopold
Reiss, Dr. Ashton, of Mosley Street ; Henry Houldsworth,
cotton spinner, his house being at Ardwick Green; and
Edward Baxter, manufacturer, who lived in Mosley Street
The chapel was very plain, but, like other square places of
worship of the last century, well adapted for seeing and
hearing. The chapel and schoolhouse were sold for
;^io,ooo to Mr. John M'Connell about 1834, and the
handsome chapel by Barry, in Upper Brook Street, built
for the congregation. Mr. Tayler remained the minister
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1 76 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
for a long period, in spite of many inducements to remove,
but eventually went to London in 1854 to undertake the
duties of Principal of the Manchester New College.
Dawson's Croft Chapel, Greengate. This plain and
unpretending place of worship, situated on the right soon
after entering Greengate, was opened on Christmas Day,
1824. In 1829 the Rev. John Relly Beard was its pastor,
and remained so for upwards of thirty years. He was
bom at Portsmouth, and came from the Manchester New
College at York. He was a man of great industry and
considerable learning, and received the degree of D.D.
from a German University on account of his theological
acquirements. The new chapel in New Bridge Street,
Strangeways, was built in 1838, whither the congregation
removed Mr. Charles Sydney Grundy, the ex-mayor, has
been a member of it for many years, both in the old and
new chapels. Dr. Beard's successor was an intelligent, kind,
and fine-spirited gentleman, Mr. Brooke Herford, whose
removal from Manchester those who knew him best will
mourn the most. I have a very pleasant remembrance of
a friendly chat I once had with him in reference to a
sermon on Inspiration which I heard him preach. It is
remarkable that each of the four Unitarian ministers named
undertook his charge here immediately on the completion
of his course of study at the Manchester New CoUege, and
retained it at least twenty-five years. Mr. Robberds*
connection with Cross Street Chapel ended only with his
life in 1854 ; Mr. Tayler's pastorate of Mosley Street lasted
more than thirty years; Dr. Beard ministered to the same
people more than thirty years; and Mr. Gaskell stiU lives
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PLATT CHAPEL.
177
the highly-valued minister of the same congregation after fifty
years of active service. This absence of change in the
Unitarian pulpits speaks well for both ministers and people,
and is certainly in remarkable contrast with general usage.
The Suburban Unitarian Chapels which existed
fifty years ago are those of Piatt, Gorton, Dob Lane,
Blackley, Monton, and Stand They may be called extra-
parochial, being outside the boundaries of the borough,
but are old enough and near enough to claim our notice.
The particulars are mainly ftimished by Mr. F. W. Holland,
of Hyde Road.
Platt Chapel, Rusholme. — In 1829 the Rev. William
Whitelegg was the minister of this chapel, his house
being in Chatham Street, Greenheys. He commenced his
ministry there in 1810, and remained till his death in
1865, so that he was the minister of this chapel for
fifty-five years, affording another proof how little given to
change in their ministers the Unitarians are. Mr. Whitelegg
at the same time held the office of secretary and
librarian to the Portico Library and Newsroom in Mosley
Street This little chapel had an aristocratic appearance,
looking like an appendage to Platt Hall, the residence
of the Worsley femily. In the rear used to be a sort of
transept, fitted up with fireplace and dignified looking
chairs, forming a grand pew for the great people at the
hall at the time they attended this place of worship.
The chapel had been built by a Mr. Worsley on the site
of an older one erected at a cost of ;^95, in the year
1690, for Mr. Finch, who had been turned out of Birch,
a domestic chapel near the place. Finch died in 1704
N
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1 78 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
and was -succeeded by Robert Hesketh. After him the
Revs. Messrs. Whittaker, Haughton, Meanley, and Checkley
occupied . the pulpit previous to Mr. Whitelegg. There
was a Drivate walk from the hall to the chapel, where it
was said the Mrs. Worsley of the day could gather a
hundred varieties of roses on her way. Piatt Chapel
fifty years ago was but a dreary place, but has been
greatly altered and improved. It is now well attended
by a respectable congregation.
Gorton Chapel. — In 1829 the Rev. C. D. Hort was
the minister of this place, many of his principal hearers
being members of the Grimshaw family. The building
was one of the many old-fashioned dissenting chapels
which then existed, being about 150 years old, and stood
in a large graveyard. It is now replaced by the
magnificent Brookfield Chapel, which was built at the
sole expense of Mr. Richard Peacock, of Gorton HalL
Dob Lane Chapel, Failsworth. — ^This old place of
worship, like the one at Gorton, has recently disappeared,
and in its place a spacious modem chapel has been
recently erected. It forms a little exception to the re-
mark made on a previous page, and at the time of
which we are speaking changed its ministers pretty often.
About fifty-two years ago Mr. George Buckland was
the minister, and in about two years he was succeeded
by Mr. Joseph Ashton, whose successor in two years more
. was Mr. James Taylor. The latter gentleman was a mem-
ber of an old Manchester family, related to the Heywoods,
the Percivals, and others of high respectability. One of the
earlier ministers of this chapel was the Rev. Lewis Loyd,
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BLACKLBY CHAPEL.
179
the father of Lord Overstone and brother-in-law of
Samuel Jones, the banker, referred to in the account of
Cross Street ChapeL Mr. Grindon, in his interesting book
on '' Manchester Banks and Bankers/' tells us that one of
the sixty-seven Lancashire ministers ejected from their
livings under the Act of Uniformity was the vicar of
Newton, and he it was who established the original Dob
Lane congregation, though the old chapel itself was
not erected till about 1698. The ancestors of several
Manchester families now in high position were once
members of the congregation — the Bayleys, for instance,
one of whom became the wife of Mr. (afterwards
Sir Thomas) Potter.
Blackley Chapel. — ^The minister of this place was also
one of the ejected, for whom the seceders built this chapel
in 1662, described as long since draped with ivy, in a neigh-
bourhood once famed for its thrushes. The pulpit of this
quiet little chapel, now occupied by the Rev. J. Freeston,
was occupied fifty years ago by the Rev. William Harrison.
He was the son of Ralph Harrison, referred to already as
the colleague of Dr. Barnes at Cross Street Mr. Harrison's
family were eminent for their musical talents, Ralph being
the composer of *' Warrington," and many other admirable
hymn-tunes. William Harrison was the minister of this
chapel for a very long period. Like that at Piatt, it is now
in excellent order, and is too small for its congregatioa
MoNTON Chapel, near Eccles^ standing on an open
green, with a spacious burial ground, and backed by
beautiful trees, was a pleasing sight The old chapel has
been replaced by the splendid Gothic one which stands
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1 80 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
nearly on the same site. Mr. Silas Leigh, a young man in
1829, recently deceased, is said to have contributed more
than j^i 3,000 towards its erection ; and he and his sisters
built, at their sole expense, the excellent school buildings
adjoining. Monton Chapel had a very isolated position
with respect to other places of worship, there being none
nearer than Eccles or Swinton in one direction, and in a
westerly one none nearer than perhaps eight or ten miles.
Stand Chapel in 1829 was under the charge of an
estimable young minister, the Rev. Arthur Dean, who
had also charge of the endowed school in the village. I
believe he did not live long after this period, and has been
succeeded by the Revs. John Cropper, P. P. Carpenter,
and others. Mr. Robert Philips, father of Mark Philips,
once M.P. for Manchester, formerly lived in King Street,
and after his removal attended this chapel with his
daughters. Both Mark Philips and his brother
R. N. Philips, M.P. for Bury, when residing at the Park,
Prestwich, were members of the congregation. Stand
Chapel, like Monton, was for a century or more the only
place of worship in the neighbourhood. All Saints' Church,
Stand, having been built in 1826.
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FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE. 1 8 1
CHAPTER XIV.
PLACES OF WORSHIP. — ^VARIOUS.
/^EORGE FOX, the founder of the Society of Friends,
^^ visited Manchester in the year 1647, when quite a
young man. There was no meeting of Friends established
in Manchester, however, for eight or ten years after, and
where the meeting was first held is not certain. It was
probably not &r from Jackson's Row, for it is known that
many members of the Society used to live in former days
in Cupid's Alley and the neighbourhood. Certain it is
that three of their number became the owners of a piece of
land at the comer of Deansgate and Jackson's Row, in
1673, where twenty years later, the first meeting-house of
which anything is known was erected It appears that the
land was originally purchased for a burial-ground, the first
known interment in which took place in 1675, ^^^ ^^ ^^^
in 1847. The land being required by the Corporation for
the improvement of Deansgate, in 1877 the remains of
the Friends who had been there buried were, in the
most reverential way possible, removed from thence to
the Friends' Cemetery at Ashton-upon-Mersey. The burial
ground in Jackson's Row was the oldest in Manchester,
excepting the one surrounding the Cathedral
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1 82 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
The chapel erected in 1693 in the course of time became
too small, and in 1732 a larger one was built on the same
site. This remained till 1795, when the meeting was
removed to a new building erected on the site of the
present meeting-house in Mount Street, but which fronted
the street which now runs at the back of the chapel, and
known as South Street This again becoming too small, a
fourth meeting-house was erected about 1829 or 1830,
designed by Richard Lane, the architect It fronted
Mount Street, and still remains. Mr. Lane wisely built the
meeting-house much too large for present requirements,
and made arrangements for throwing a partition across
when a smaller space is required, as in the case of ordinary
religious meetings, leaving a second room at liberty for
other purposes. During the building of it the Friends
worshipped in a room in Dickinson Street, known as the
Diorama.
My earliest recollections of the Friends' meeting-house
are connected with the great Anti-Slavery agitation. The
part which the members of the Society took in that
agitation will always be one of their titles to honourable
recognition and remembrance. It is true that John Wesley
denounced slavery in the last century as well as many
other philanthropists, but no religious body came to the
front so early as the Quakers. They kept that position
tUl the j^2o,ooo,ooo was voted for the emancipation of
every slave in the British dominions. When others
slumbered they were up and doing; when the flame of
zeal was dull they fanned it; and they were the most
active members as well as the most liberal supporters of the
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GEORGE THOMPSON. 183
Anti-Slavery Society. That society was most fortunate in
securing the services, as their advocate, of one of the most
accomplished orators of the day, Mr. George Thompson.
Whenever he visited Manchester the Friends' Meeting-
house was always thrown open to receive the audience
which his eloquence attracted. His denunciation of
slavery was most withering, and his protest against the
practice of buying and selling human beings was over-
whelming. I never missed an opportunity of hearing him.
This was before the Free Trade Hall was built ; neither
was there then any other room in Manchester, except
the Com Exchange, so convenient for the purpose. I
well remember the pleasurable impression made on my
first visit to the place, and how I enjoyed listening to
Mr. Thompson's fervent but polished oratory. The scene
of certain "potent, grave, and reverend seigniors," sitting
in a long row behind the lecturer, and the crowded chapel,
the audience being sometimes moved to tears and some-
times to laughter, are present to the eyes of my mind
now, whilst the tones of the lecturer's voice seem to be
sounded in my ears. I believe Mr. Thompson came from
Yorkshire, and was originally a Wesleyan local preacher.
He was elected M.P. for the Tower Hamlets, and even-
tually went to America, where he was once or twice mobbed
by the slavery party. He died about two years ago. His
daughter married Mr. Frederick Nosworthy, now of
Liverpool
I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Alderman King
for the following list of &milies who attended the Friends'
Meeting-house about fifty years ago : Thomas Edmondson,
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184 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
nventor of the railway ticket system ; Dr. Dalton and his
friend Peter Clare; Isaac Crewdson, of Ardwick Green;
Joseph Crewdson, of Crewdson and Worthington ; Thomas
Crewdson, the banker; and Wilson Crewdson, of Dacca
Mills — four brothers ; Thomas Hoyle, of Mayfidd, and his
three sons-in-law — ^William Neild (afterwards Alderman and
Mayor), Joseph Crompton and Alfred Binyon, all of the
firm of Thomas Hoyle and Sons ; Thomas and Edward
Binyon, of St. Ann's Square, with George Robinson, after-
wards their partner ; Samuel Eveleigh, hat manu&cturer, of
Openshaw ; Joseph Eveleigh, furrier and hat manufacturer,
of Oldham Street, afterwards a sharebroker, and a botanist
of some position in his day ; Samuel Satterthwaite, furrier,
at one time in the Town Council ; Thomas D. Crewdson,
Alderman, and nephew of the Crewdsons named previously;
James Hall and James Hall, jun., dyers, Salford;
Ishmael Nash, tea dealer and money changer, of Smithy
Door and Charles Street ; Isaac Stephenson, sen. and jun.,
com ^tors ; John King, father of the present Alderman
King, St Ann's Square ; David Dockray, Rusholme Road,
formerly in the Manchester trade; George Danson,
chemist, Piccadilly; J. H. Cockbain, silk mercer, Picca-
dilly; William G. Ansell, chemist, St Mary's Gate;
Joseph, John, and Joseph Rooke, jun., manufacturers of
iron liquor, Scotland Bridge; John Raleigh, Oldham Street,
and Joseph his son, fustian manufacturers; George
Bradshaw, originator of Bradshavfs Railway Guide;
John A. and Joseph A. Ransome, surgeons ; John Femely,
M.D. ; William Boulton, merchant; Benjamin Pearson,
blanket manufacturer; John Windsor, F.R.S., surgeon;
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CONGREGATION OF FRIENDS. 185
John Rothwell, dyer, Water Street; William White,
surgeon, St John's Street; John B. Brockbank, builder;
John Robinson, accountant ; John Wadkin, sen. and jun.,
the latter a smaUware manufacturer; Henry Wadkin,
sewing cotton manufacturer, at one time in the Town
Council ; Nathaniel Card, one of the originators, if not the
originator, of the United Kingdom Alliance; Matthew
Corbett, builder, Pendleton; Peter Taylor, cotton mer-
chant. Back Square; Michael Satterthwaite, bootmaker,
Salford; John Robinson, draper, Oldham Street; David
Holt, cotton manu&cturer (referred to previously) ; Joseph
Ftintoflf ; John Goodier, calenderer, Poolfold ; William and
Jonathan Labrey, tea dealers; William Fowden, merchant;
John Harrison, printer. Market Street, and his partner
Joseph Crosfield, the latter being afterwards at the District
Bank; Godfrey Woodhead, Smithy Door (who died at
Huddersfield, at the age of seventy-two, a little while ago) ;
Josiah Merrick, merchant, and his son Roger; Robert
Barker, confectioner. Smithy Door; Charles Cumber, for
many years master of the Friends' School, Mount Street ;
Alexander Morris, draper, Smithy Door; John CoUinson
and George Simpson, brewers, Newton Heath; Isaac Nield,
fustian manufacturer; James Nodal, schoolmaster, Camp
Street, and his sons Aaron and. John Nodal, Aaron being
subsequently one of the first three councillors elected for
Ardwick Ward, and an active member of the Anti-Com-
Law League; John Thistlethwaite, confectioner, Oldham
Street; Henry Nield, confectioner, Deansgate and Bridge
Street; James Thompson, cotton spinner; Henry
Waterhouse (still living), father of Mr. Crewdson Waterhouse j
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1 86 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Edward Corbett, surveyor, son of Matthew Corbett already
mentioned; John Storey, grocer, Gartside Street; John
Bradshaw, watch and clock maker, Deansgate; William
Johnson, surveyor; John Worthington, of Crewdson and
Worthington; Thomas Atkinson; Benjamin Binyon and his
partner, Peter Taylor, of Hollinwood, twine manufacturers ;
and Deborah, Hannah, and Ann Binyon, sisters of the
Messrs. Binyon.
A secession in the body took place in 1837, in the
December of which year the so-called Evangelical Friends'
Meeting-house was opened in Grosvenor Street, Chorlton-
on-Medlock (now used as a Baptist chapel). The leader
in the secession was Mr. Isaac Crewdson, who held views
on some points at variance with the general body of the
Friends. He was followed by several members of eminence
in the town ; and the controversy and secession eventually
led to the families of the Neilds, the Windsors, the
Ransomes, the Simpsons, and many others leaving the
Society altogether.
After the building in Jackson's Row ceased to be a place
of worship it was used by the Friends as a school, which
was at the beginning of the present century presided over
by Mr. John Taylor, the father of Mr. John Edward Taylor,
the founder and former editor of the Manchester Guardian.
Until recently the Friends* Meeting-house in Mount Street
was the only one in the district, but owing to so many of
the members now residing in the suburbs, two smaller
meeting-houses have been built of recent years, one at Sale
and one at Eccles.
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REV. WILUAM GADSBY. 187
Baptist Chapels. — Of these, in 1829 there were three in
Manchester— ^ne in St George's Road, one in York Street,
and one in George Street. There had been one in Fleet
Street, but it had then ceased to exist The first minister
of York Street Chapel, which was built in 1807, was the
Rev. W. Stephens; and he was succeeded by the Rev. John
Birt, who was the minister in 1829. The chapel held its
own for many years against the advancing tide of business
requirements, but a few years ago it succumbed, and has
now disappeared, a handsome structure having been built in
Moss Side West with part of the purchase money. The
George Street Chapel was built more recently, and has also
ceased to exist many years ago. In 1829 its minister was
the Rev. Thomas Upcraft, who was succeeded shortly after
by the Rev. John Aldis. The chapel stood on the same
side of the street as the Literary and Philosophical Society's
rooms, nearer to Piccadilly.
Gadsby's Chapel. — ^At the time we are speaking of the
Rev. William Gadsby, or as he was femiliarly called,
BiUy Gadsby, was at the height of his popularity. His
chapel was at the left-hand side of St George's Road, going
from ShudehilL It was built in 1789, and Mr. Gadsby
began his ministry at it 1806, when about thirty-three years
of age. I find his name in Pigot's Directory for 181 1,
entered as ''minister of Anabaptist Chapel, St George's
Road." In 1815 he was living at 175, Oldham Road; in
1820 at Lees Place, Ardwick; in 1824 at 20, Great Ducie
Street; and in 1829 at Cheetham Crescent, Cheetham HilL
I remember something of his appearance, which was
not clerical according to the notions of the present day.
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1 88 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
He was rather over the average height, wore knee breeches —
frequently both they and his stockings being coloured —
and an unstifTened white neckerchief tied in u bow. His
&ce had a somewhat quaint and humorous expression,
and his countenance was rather florid The valley of
Rossendale fifty years ago contained several Baptist chapels,
and when my father lived at Bacup, Mr. Gadsby frequently
preached in one or other of these chapels. He was very
popular in the district On these occasions he used to let
fly his envenomed arrows at the Arminian doctrines of
Methodism, which are so much opposed to the Calvinism
he preached I do not care to repeat the sayings which it
was currently reported he had uttered, some of them both
coarse and bitter beyond belief. Every Tuesday evening
he preached in his own chapel, when the congregation
consisted generally of the members of his church. On
these occasions he laid aside all controversy and the style
which he adopted sometimes when in the presence of a
mixed congregation, and talked to his flock as a father to
his family. The only time of my hearing him was on such
an occasion, when his discourse was a beautiful and
experimental exposition of divine truth. He died in 1844,
having been the minister of the chapel thirty-eight years.
Lloyd Street Presbyterian Chapel. — Fifty years
ago this was the only Presbyterian place of worship in
Manchester. Its ministers were the Rev. Dr. Jack and
his assistant, the Rev. William (afterwards Dr.) M'Kerrow,
then a young man, Dr. Jack living in Lloyd Street and
Mr. M'Kerrow in Oxford Road I was in the chapel once,
having been dining one Sunday with a Scotch friend in
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ROMAN CA THOUC CHAPELS. \ 89
Oxford Road, when I went with him in the ailemoon and
heard Mr. M'Kerrow preach. The chapel was of the usual
type of the chapels built in the last century, and stood at
the comer of Lloyd Street and Mount Street The Scotch
Kirk in St Peter's Square was built shortly after this, and
has been since removed to Bloomsbury. I remember
Dr. Chalmers preaching at the old Mechanics' Institution
in Cooper Street, and making a collection for the new
chapel in St Peter's Square. The old chapel in Lloyd
Street has been pulled down some years, and in its place a
handsome structure has been erected in Brunswick Street,
Chorlton-on-Medlock, where Mr. M'Kerrow ministered
many years. He has so lately passed away, and was so
deservedly and universally respected, that it is needless to
make further reference to him.
Roman Catholic Chapels. — In 1829 there were three
Roman Catholic chapels in Manchester—one in Granby
Row, at which the Revs. James Crook and John Parsons
officiated; one in Rook Street, behind Mosley Street, at
which the Revs. Joseph Sherwood and Thomas Maddocks
officiated; and one in Mulberry Street, Deansgate, at
which the Revs. Henry GiUow, Daniel Heame, and
John Billington officiated. The eldest of these chapels
was the Rook Street one, which was erected rather more
than a hundred years ago, and was enlarged in 1832,
but which is now numbered amongst the things which
have passed away, the site being covered with warehouse
property. Who the first minister was I do not know ; but
in 1780 the Rev. Rowland Broomhead was appointed
to it, where he remained without a colleague forty years,
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IQO
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
and died in 1820, aged seventy years, being buried at
St Augustine's, Granby Row. The next Roman Catholic
chapel erected was the one in Mulberry Street, which was
opened in 1794. In 181 1 the Rev. Edward Kenyon was
the minister of this chapel, and for some years after ; in
1820 the Revs. Thomas Lupton and Joseph Carr officiated;
and in 1824 the Revs. Henry Gillow and Michael Trapps.
This chapel is still in existence, and it has three ministers
attached to it Granby Row Chapel was opened in 1820,
the building (of which John Palmer was architect) costing
;^io,ooo. The first ministers were the Revs. John Ashurst,
Joseph Sherwood, and Thomas Rigby. Forty or fifty years
ago high-class sacred music was not as accessible as now,
and when an Italian opera company visited Manchester it
was customary for the members of it to sing at the Roman
Catholic chapels on Sunday, and for a charge to be made
for admittance. I remember going to Granby Row Chapel
one Sunday evening, when quite a young man, with a
friend, and paying half-a-crown for admittance to hear an
Italian named, I think, Donzetti, sing. At the time of what
is known as the "potato famine," which preceded the
abolition of the Com Laws, there was great distress
amongst the poor, particularly in the St George's and
Oldham Road Districts. The Rev. Daniel Heame was
then located at the chapel in Livesey Street, Oldham Road;
and in the same street lived the Rev. John Smith, a
Wesleyan minister. These two men set a noble example
by uniting themselves together in the work of Christian
charity by house-to-house visitation and the distribution of
relief without dbtinction of sect or creed.
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THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 191
The Jewish Synagogue, fifty years ago, was situated in
Halliwell Street, Long Millgate, nearly opposite the shabby
footbridge at present leading to the Victoria Railway
Station. At the end of the last century the number of
Jews in Manchester was very small indeed, and their
synagogue was a little upper room situated in Garden
Street, Withy Grove, which remained till about the year
1810. At this time amongst the worshippers there was the
great Rothschild, then an unknown young man, about
twenty-five years of age. He had established himself in
Manchester as a merchant in the last years of last century,
his warehouse being first in Brown Street, and his house in
Downing Street, Ardwick. In Pigofs Directory for 181 1
his firm appears as ''Rothschild Brothers, merchants,
5, Lloyd Street ;" but in that for 1815 the name is wanting,
the presumption being that he had left Manchester
previously. About the year 18 10 the upper room used as
a synagogue was abandoned for a small building in
Ainsworth's Court, Long Millgate, opposite what was so
long known as the " Poet's Comer," and approached by a
flight of wooden steps. The reader at this synagogue was
Israel Lewis. After the battle of Waterloo and the pro-
clamation of peace, there was a great influx of Germans
and othars into Manchester firom the Continent, amongst
whom was Mr. Emanuel Mendel, the father of Mr. Sam
MendeL Many of these immigrants were Jews, who of
course increased the size of the Jewish congregation very
much» so that it became necessary to provide larger
premises. Accordingly, in 1825 the Synagogue in Halliwell
Street was opened, having for its rabbi the Rev. Abraham
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192
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Abrahams. Fifty years ago it was a respectable looking
place, externally very much resembling many other places
of worship at that time existing. I once ventured to peep
inside during divine worship and remained for a short time,
during which I received the most polite attention from a
gentleman near me.
Christ Church, King Street, Salford. — ^Fifty years
ago the late Mr. Joseph Brotherton was the minister of
this chapel, his house being at that time in Oldfield
Road, eight doors from the Oldfield Road doctor.
Amongst Swedenborg's earliest disciples were the
Rev. John Clowes, rector of St. John's (before referred
to), and his curate, the Rev. William Cowherd The
former, as is well known, never left the Church of
England, but the latter decided to cast in his lot with
the followers of Swedenborg in forming a new church.
Cowherd laid the foundation of the New Jerusalem
Church in Yates Street (now called Peter Street) in 1792.
After preaching there some time differences arose amongst
his congregation as to forms of church government and
other matters, and in 1800 he built, at his own expense,
the above-mentioned chapel, the roof of which fell in in
less than five years. He was a man of considerable
powers as a preacher, of scholarly habits, and extensive
reading. He demanded, as a condition of membership,
abstinence from flesh meat and intoxicating beverages,
but many of his adherents did not accept this part of
his creed. The nickname of ''Beefsteak Chapel" was
frequently applied to the chapel in former days. In
connection with it Cowherd had a large and commodious
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JOSEPH BROTHERTON. 1 93
school, capable of accommodating one hundred boarders.
He died in 18 16, aged fiity-seven, and on his tombstone
was inscribed at his own request the words, "All feared^
none loved, few understood" Joseph Brotherton, who
was originally a cotton spinner and manufacturer, though
the recognised minister of this chapel, never assumed the
title of Rev., and in one of the two directories of the
period of which we are speaking he is styled " gentleman."
For twenty years he represented Salford in Parliament,
and was ever an active and earnest worker in the
accomplishment of the various social reforms which
marked the first half of the present century. In 1868
the old chapel in King Street was relinquished, and in
its place a new one was opened in Cross Lane, Salford,
of which the present minister is the Rev. James Clarke. .
There were two other places of worship in Manchester
in 1829 also called Christ Church — one in Christ Church
Square, Hulme, near the Cavahy Barracks \ and the other
in Every Street, Ancoats. The earliest of the two chapels
was the one in Hulme, at which in 18 15 the Rev. J. Clarke
was minister. He was succeeded by the Rev J. Schofield,
or, as his name was sometimes spelt, Scholefield, who was
the minister in 1820. After him the Rev. T. B. Strettels
was appomted; and after him the Rev. J. Gaskell, who
became its minister about the time we are speaking of.
Mr. Gaskell retained the post many years, and became
one of the guardians of the Chorlton Unioa On the
building of Every Street Chapel, somewhere about 1823,
Mr. Schofield was appointed its minister. He became a
popular quack doctor and a notorious Chartist, being a great
o
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194
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
friend of Henry Hunt, to whom a monument is erected in
the burial ground connected with the chapeL Reference
has been made to him previously.
Although Cowherd, the founder of Christ Church, had
embraced the doctrines of Swedenborg, the three chapels
just named have not been regarded as strictly Sweden-
borgian. The members of that body designate their
chapels "New Jerusalem Chapels," of which there were
two in 1829 — one in Peter Street, opened in 1793; and
one in Bolton Street, Salford, opened in 181 3 — ^which
remain without addition to the present day. If one may
judge from this, no increase has taken place in the body
during that time. In 1802 the Rev. R. Jones became the
minister of Peter Street Chapel, and remained so till his
death, in 1832. I was once in the chapel, and heard the
Rev. J. H. Smithson preach on the resurrection of the
body. I was also once in Bolton Street Chapel, having
been attracted by the announcement of the subject of the
discourse. Over the door was the inscription Nunc Itcet^
words which Swedenborg said he saw written over a gate in
the spiritual world, signifying that now it was allowable to
enter into the mysteries of faith. As Mr. Hindmarsh, a
former minister of this chapel, and Cowherd differed on the
subject of vegetarian practice, the inscription was said to
mean that it is allowable to eat flesh meat. Hence, the
term " Beefsteak Chapel," which was sometimes jocularly
applied to the old King Street Chapel, was a sarcastic
nickname originally given to the Bolton Street one. The
minister in 1829 was the Rev. D. Howarth, who succeeded
the Rev. R. HindmarsL
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BARRISTERS. 195
CHAPTER XV.
LAWYERS AND MAGISTRATES.
TTHERE were in 1819 five barristers who had offices in
Manchester, viz., Mr. Robert Brandt, whose house
was at Pendleton ; Mr. John Frederick Foster, the police
magistrate, his house being in Mosley Street ; Mr. Edward
Jeremiah Lloyd, whose rooms were in King Street;
Mr. James-* Norris, chairman of the Quarter Sessions, his
rooms being in St James's Square ; and Mr. John Walker,
who resided in the Crescent, Salford. Mr. George Condy,
who it will be remembered, became a friend of Horatio
Miller's, came to 'Manchester about a year afterwards. He
became editor and joint proprietor of the Manchester and
Salford Advertiser^ and a Commissioner in Bankruptcy. It
was said of him at the time of his death that he was an
accomplished scholar; that there was hardly a branch of
literature or art which he did not appear to have studied ;
and that, as a critic of music, painting, or drama, he had
few equals.
One firm of solicitors in business in 1829 was Eccles,
Cririe, and Slater, to whom the late Mr. Stephen Heelis
was articled. In 1810 the firm was Shaipe, Eccles, and
Cririe, in King Street They then removed to Red Cross
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196 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Street, now known as Cross Street; and about 1822
Mr. Sharpe retired and Mr. Slater was received as a
partner. Mr. Edward Bent was then in practice in KLing
Street. Thomas and Joseph Nadin were also in practice
in offices adjoining the Queen's Theatre. They were sons
of Joe Nadin, the former deputy constable, and were the
chief shareholders in the theatre.
The principal town's business was conducted by the firm
of Sergeant, Milne, and Sergeant, in St James's Square,
Mr. Oswald Milne being clerk of the magistrates acting for
the division of Manchester, and sitting at the New Bailey.
John Frederick Foster was the stipendiary, but was
designated the ''police magistrate," and was assisted by
six other magistrates, viz., Mr. James Brierley, of Ardwick ;
Mr. K Fielden, of Didsbury; Mr. Ralph Wright, of
Flixton ; the Rev. C. W. Ethelstone, of Smedley ; Mr. John
Greaves, of Pendlebury; and Mr. Isaac Blackbume, the
distributor of stamps in Brown Street Mr. Wright was the
same gentleman of whom it was said that having engaged a
coachman, with whom he had agreed that he should be
allowed to take vegetables out of the garden, he foimd him
once takmg home some potatoes, and had him apprehended,
contending that they were not vegetables. The son of William
Sergeant was named Oswald, and entered the Church, in
1829 possessing the curacy of St Philip's, Salford. He
was afterwards transferred to be one of the Fellows at the
Old Church. Mr. Oswald Milne's brother John at that
time was coroner for the hundred of Salford William
SmaUey Rutter, who became coroner at the death of
Mr. John Milne, was previously employed as clerk to
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MR. JAMES CROSSLEY. 197
Oswald Milne, at the New Bailey. Mr. Alfred Milne, who
was the late chairman of the Quarter Sessions, was the son
of Oswald Milne.
Our venerable and respected fellow-townsman Mr. James
Crossley, shortly before the time we are speaking of,
became a member of the firm of Ainsworth, Crossley, and
Sudlow, in Essex Street, his house being in Cheetwood.
Mr. John P. Aston, of this city, served the latter part of his
time to Mr. Crossley, whilst his brother Mr. Edward Aston
served his time with Mr. James Barrett The first time I
saw Mr. James Crossley, was at a meeting called one
forenoon at eleven o*clock in the large room behind the
York Hotel, next to the Town Hall, in King Street The
object of the meeting was to organize an opposition to the
incorporation of the town, and Mr. Crossley being called
upon to speak, said that you might as well on meeting a
strong, robust-looking individual in the street lay yoiu: hand
on his shoulder, look him in the face, and say, '' My good
fellow, you look very ill ; let me advise you to send for
your doctor," as talk of incorporating the town.
Mr. James Chapman, the first borough coroner, was then
practising as a solicitor in Fountain Street, having been in
practice for ten or twelve years. For some time we had
two coroners and two inquests for the borough,
Mr. Chapman holding one in virtue of his appointment
under the Corporation, and Mr. Rutter holding a second
under his appointment as coroner for the county, in the
belief that Mr. Chapman's appointment was illegal. On
one occasion Mr. Chapman summoned Mr. Rutter before
the magistrates on a charge of assault in connection with
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198 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
an inquest, the latter being held to bail to answer the
charge at the sessions. The year following the validity of
the charter of incorporation was confirmed by the judges.
Mr. George Hadfield, the solicitor, afterwards M.P. for
Sheffield, was in partnership with Mr. Grave, the firm being
Hadfield and Grave, their office being next door but one to
Mr. Chapman's, in Fountain Street Mr. Hadfield began
practice prior to 1815. Mr. Alexander Kay, afterwards
Mayor of Manchester, was then in practice as a solicitor in
Brown Street, having had his office previously in Exchange
Street He resided with his father, Alexander Kay, a
cotton merchant in St John Street, where he had resided
since he began practice about the year 18 13.
Mr. John Makinson, the father of the present Salford
stipendiary, had his office then in Brown Street, but in
1830 removed to Market^ Street near to the end of
Pall Mall, where he remained many years. He married
the daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Crowther, one of
Wesley's later coadjutors. Mr. Crowther's eldest son was
connected with the press, and became reporting agent for
the Times for Birmingham and the district He was the
brother of Mr. Joshua Crowther, the accountant, and died
many years ago. During my apprenticeship I became
acquainted with James Johnson, an articled pupil of
Mr. Makinson's, our acquaintance ripening into close
friendship. He was the son of Mr. John Johnson, of
the firm of Johnson and Sharrocks, wire drawers, of
Dale Street, and brother of Mr. Richard Johnson, of the
firm of Johnson, Clapham, and Morris, who still cany on
the same business in connection with the same premises.
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MR. THOMAS POTTER.
199
My friend married a daughter of Mr. Angus of London,
a large landed proprietor in Australia before the discovery
of goldfields there. After he had married his health began
to £u], and being advised to leave England and settle in
Australia, he set sail with his wife and two children, died
on the passage when off the Cape of Good Hope, and
was buried in the great blue sea.
. Mr. Thomas Potter then had his office in Princess
Street, and had for an articled pupil a little before this
time Percival Bunting, son of the celebrated Rev. Dr.
Bunting. Afterwards he had for an articled pupil the
son of one and grandson of another celebrated Wesleyan
minister, Bateson Wood, whose grandfather, the Rev. James
Wood, was another of Wesley's coadjutors, and filled the
office of President of the Conference in the year 1800,
and again in 1808. The Rev. Robert Wood, the son of
the latter, and father of Mr. Bateson Wood, was a very
popular minister amongst the Wesleyans, and was stationed
in Manchester several times, the last occasion being in
the Grosvenor Street circuit in the years 1835 to 1837.
Professor Williamson married his daughter. Mr. Potter
began practice in Clarence Street, Princess Street, about
18 1 7, and afterwards removed to the same premises in
Princess Street which he had in 1829, and which are still
occupied by Mr. Wood, who before Mr. Potter's death
became his partner. In the list which I gave of some
of Horatio Miller's fiiends, I omitted the name of
Charles Wood, the solicitor, Brazenose Street He began
practice at the commencement of the century in Hulme
Street, but soon removed to the former street During my
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200 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
apprenticeship his daughter Rose recovered ;f 3,500 from
a gentleman in London for breach of promise of marriage.
There was one gentleman in practice fifty years ago who
was in practice in the last century, namely, Mr. John Owen,
who was originally in King Street, but after a while removed
to Gartside Street The following, who were also in busi-
ness fifty years ago, were so at the beginning of the
century : — Higson, Bagshaw, and Higson, of King Street \
Henry Cardwell; Cooke and Beever, Mr. Cooke's &ther
being in Greengate as a solicitor in the last century ;
Robert Ellis CunlifTe, whose house was at first in Princess
Street; and John Thomson. Other principal attorneys
were Atkinson and Birch, of Norfolk Street; Kay and
Parbyshire, Marsden Street; and Aldcroft Phillips, of
King Street
In addition to the names of those attorneys who were in
business in 1829, and who had been so at the beginning of
the century, I must mention that of Duckworth, Denison,
and Humphreys. In 1794 Mr. George Duckworth was in
practice at 38, Princess Street; and in 1810, at the same
address, was the firm of Duckworth, Chippindall, and
Denison; whilst in 1829, at 38, Princess Street, was the
firm of Duckworth, Denison, and Humphreys. There was
a Jeremiah Buckley in practice in Brown Street in 1829,
who was so at the beginning of this century. Mr. William
C. Chew was practising in Swan Street fifty years ago,
whilst the firm of W. C. Chew and Son are still there.
I must not forget the celebrated Jack Law, who, fifty
years ago, was in partnership with Richard Coates in
Piccadilly. He had a large practice in the police courts,
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JOHN LAW. 20 1
and possessed those qualifications which best enabled him
to cross-examine a witness with efiiect. I once heard him
cross-examine a woman in an affiliation case, and well
remember its terrible severity. I omit repetitions and
flourishes. He produced a letter and inquired who had
written it "My brother," said the woman. "And it is
just as true that your brother wrote that letter as that
which you have just sworn; the one's as true as the
other?" "Yes.*' **Now, then, did not a man called
H P write that letter?" "Yes." Of course the
case was dismissed John Law was in practice in St Ann's
Churchyard at the beginning of this century, and had a
brother David, who in 1794 kept the Crown and Thistle in
Half Street Mr. John I^w's opponent was generally
Mr. Edward Foulkes, of the Star Yard, who had been in
practice there since the year 1808. Solicitors do not seem
to have increased in number to the same extent as some
other trades and professions, for whilst fifty years ago there
were 127, 1 believe there are not more than 280 now.
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202 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE POST OFFICE.
T^HE earliest intimation which we have of the existence
of a post office in Manchester is furnished by
Mr. J. Owen, who tells us that the London Gazette in
1687 gives the name of Edward Holland as the postmaster.
In the next century we hear of Thomas lUingworth as
filling the office. It has been stated that in 1721
letters were forwarded three times a week to London,
and that it then required eight days for an interchange
of communication. In 1790 Manchester paid ^^11,000
in postages, being a larger amount than was paid in any
other provincial town, the whole of the business being
transacted by Mrs. Willat and two clerks. This lady
succeeded her husband, John Willat, on his decease, in
1772, of whom it was said that he was second to. none in
this part of the kingdom in the knowledge of his profession.
Mrs. Willat died in 1801, and is buried with her husband
in St Ann's Churchyard, where their gravestones may be
seen. She was succeeded by Mr. James Harrop, printer,
bookseller, stamp distributor, medicine vendor, and post-
master, at 40, Market Place. In 1804 he resigned the office
of postmaster, when the Rev. Richard Hutchins Whitelock
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POST OFFICE CLERICS.
203
was appointed. He resided at Chorlton-cum-Hardy, of
which place he was incumbent, being vicar of Skillington,
in Lincolnshire, at the same time. He resigned the office
of postmaster rather more than fifty years ago, and died in
1833. His successor was Mr. Robert Peel Willcock, a
relative of Sir Robert Peel, who on his death was replaced
by Mr. John St Lawrence Beaufort, the present post-
master. So that there have been only two appointments
made to the office in seventy-five years, viz., fi-om 1805 to
1880.
Fifty years ago the Post Office was a low, shabby-looking
building, at the back of the Exchange, on the opposite side
of Ducie Place, to which locality it had been removed in
1808. In a short time after this the Exchange was enlarged
at the back, when the Post Office was removed into the
Exchange, occupying the hinder portion. In 1840 it was
removed to Brown Street, where it now stands.
The history of the Post Office will show the progress
which the town has made very accurately. We have seen
that in 1790, just ninety years ago, the business of the Post
Office was conducted by a lady and two clerks. In 1829
it required the aid of the postmaster and eight clerks to
manage it In 1879 no fewer than 244 clerks were
employed by the office. In 1829 there were twelve letter-
carriers and three country messengers ; last year there were
244 letter-carriers and 187 messengers. So that, including
338 telegraphists, the number of persons employed in the
Manchester Post Office at the close of 1879 was 1,013.
The names of the eight clerks employed in 1829 were
Thomas Knowles, chief assistant; Henry Andrews, first
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204
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
clerk and agent for newspapers, and clerk of the roads for
the Chester District; Charles Jones, Samuel Brown,
William Hayes, Charles Reynolds, Edward Wilson, and
John Eldershaw. Of these I knew Andrews, Wilson, and
Eldershaw, the latter being a very corpulent man. It was
announced that '' orders for all the London newspapers,
Packet, London Shipping, and Army and Navy Lists are
received at the Office and attended to by Mr. Andrews."
This was then the principal Agency for supplying London
newspapers. Eventually this business was conducted by
Mr. Eldershaw, and after a time was given up by the Post
Office, when it was continued by Eldershaw on his own
account Edward Wilson was originally the schoolmaster
and parish clerk at Chorlton-cum-Hardy in the time of
Mr. Whitelock, the incumbent, who, before he gave up the
office of postmaster, appointed Wilson one of the clerks.
The names of the letter-carriers were Thomas Sumner,
James Ellison, Edward Lowe, Thomas Watts, William
Hetterly, James Heywood, Matthew Sumner, William Owen,
Samuel Davies, John Barnes, George Barnes, and John
Buxton. Thomas Sumner was the inspector of the
letter-carriers, and delivered letters in the Market Street
district He was a jovial little man, and had a deep
and sonorous voice, which qualified him for the post
he filled on Sundays as clerk to Mr. Piccope, the incumbent
of St Paul's. The twelve districts then were Market
Street, Cannon Street, King Street, Mosley Street, Millgate,
St John's, Knott Mill, Ardwick, Ancoats, St George's,
Windsor, and Salford. The three messengers were
despatched to Pendleton and Eccles, Cheetham Hill and
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HATES OF POSTAGE.
205
Radcliffe, Longsight and Gorton. There was not a
single sub-office in the whole of Manchester and Salford,
but there were four receiving-houses— one in Downing
Street, one in Ancoats, one at New Windsor, and one at
Knott Mill — ^at which letters were called for twice a day.
The office was open every day from eight till ten, except on
Sundays, when no letters were delivered from ten to twelve ;
it then was open till half-past one, and again at the delivery
of the Birmingham and London letters about half-past four
or five.
This was the day of high postages, when every London
letter cost elevenpence at least, and every Liverpool one
sevenpence. The rates of postage for single letters were as
follows : —
8. d.
Not exceeding 15 miles o 4
Above 15 miles and not exceeding 20 o 5
20
30
50
80
120
170
230
30...
50...
80...
120...
170...
230..
300..
o 6
o 7
o 8
o 9
o 10
II
1 o
And one penny for every excess of one hundred miles.
Letters to and from Scotland were charged an additional
halfpenny. These were the rates, as I have said, for single
letters, which were to be written on a single sheet of paper,
no matter how large, and which must be folded up without
the aid of any kind of envelopes, such things being almost
imknown at that day. If a letter should contain a loose
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2o6 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
piece of paper, however small, it was charged double
postage, and if treble or quadruple the charge was in
proportion. So that every letter as it passed through jthe
office had to be carefully examined, and as many senders
of enclosures were adepts at concealment, the letter had
frequently to be held up before a lamp for examination. If
suspected it was charged double or treble postage, which
must be paid before delivery, the burden of proof that it
was only single being with the recipient A notice was put
up ^t the office that overcharges on letters were allowed
from ten to four. I was occasionally sent whilst an
apprentice with a letter which had been wrqngly charged
double. The clerk was generally reasonable, who on
making himself acquainted with the contents, and on a
declaration being made to the effect that the letter was
only single, would return the extra charge. It will be seen
what an amount of labour was involved in the despatch of
letters under the old system, for not only had each letter to
be examined for the purpose just stated, but the clerk had
to make up his mind what the postage would be, and
then mark it with pen and ink in large characters
on the direction. This was one of Rowland Hill's argu-
ments in favour of a uniform postage to be paid by means
of a stamp — that the cost would be proportionately
diminished.
The privilege of franking letters, which belonged to
members of the two Houses of Parliament, was very
extensively used; in fact in many instances was greatly
abused. The fianking was done by the member writing
his name in one comer of the directions, a practice which
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FOREIGN MAILS.
207
is still often adopted, although the privilege is abolished.
Invoices in those dajrs were always sent with the goods —
in the case of a pack, sewn tinder the direction; of a
hamper, laid on the top of the straw under the lid ; and
of a cask, nailed under the cardboard direction. Many
great and needless delays in the transmission of the mail
bags took place. Letters from Manchester or Liverpool
passing through London to Dover, Brighton, and other
places, were always kept waiting at St Martin's-le-Grand
for fourteen hours.
There were only two deliveries a day, at nine a.m. and
five p.m. Only one mail was despatched daily to and
from London, leaving Manchester at half-past nine a.nL,
and the one from London arriving here at four o'clock p.m.
There were two mails to and from Birmingham, one to
Carlisle, two to York, two to Liverpool, two to Sheffield,
and one to Ashton, Blackburn, Bolton, Bury, Chester,
Huddersfield, Oldham, and Knutsford. Fifty years ago
foreign letters were despatched to France, Spain, Italy,
Sardinia, and Turkey, every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,
and Thursday; to Portugal every Monday; to Holland,
Guernsey, Switzerland, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, and
Russia every Monday and Thursday; to North America,
only once a month viz., on the Tuesday before the first
Wednesday in each month; to South America, Maderiai
Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean, on the Monday before
the first Tuesday in each month. Letters for places
abroad to which there were no regular packets — ^as
China, New South Wales, Sierra Leone, and many parts
of South America — ^were forwarded in sealed ship letter-
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208 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
bags by vessels sailing from London and other ports, and
were charged is. 9^4 for each single letter, which had
to be prepaid. To France the postage of a single
letter was is. iid.; to Germany, Russia, Prussia, and
Denmark, 2s. sd. ; to the Mediterranean by the Malta
packet, 3S. 3d. ; and to the United States and all British
North America, 2s. 3d.
The Penny Postage Act came into operation in 1840.
The prejudice which had to be overcome on the part of
the Post Office authorities and the legislature before it
became law are almost incredible. When the Act came
into operation, and before the invention of the penny
stamp, a penny envelope was supplied by the Post Office to
the public, having a very pretentious device engraved
around the direction, designed by William Muh-eady, R.A.
I have one of them now before me, on which Britannia
is seated on an eminence with a tame old lion crouching at
her feet, and her arms and fingers extended as far as
possible, as if she were sending out letters to all the world
from her finger ends. Right and left of her are assembled
representatives of the various nations of the world — some
of them writing letters, well clothed Europeans shaking
hands with naked savages, surrounded by specimens out of
Wombweirs menagerie of elephants, bears, and other wild
animals. The pretentious character of the design caused
it to be generally ridiculed, and after a time it became
supplanted by the more sensible penny stamp which has
continued to the present
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STAGE COACHES. 209
CHAPTER XVII.
THE STAGE^OACHING DAYS.
nERHAPS in nothing does the Manchester of to-day
present such a contrast with that of 1829, showing
the social advancement which has been made in the last
fifty years, as in the means of locomotion, and the ease
with which both passengers and goods are now moved fi'om
one part of the country to another. Fifty years ago the
majority of the people rarely took a journey of a score or
two miles simply for pleasure. The annual visit of husband,
wife, and children to the seaside, which is now an in-
stitution, was then a rare exception. All this is due, of
course, to the development of railways ; so that as I came
to Manchester at the beginning of 1829, and the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway was not opened until September,
1830, I was enabled to witness the last days of the old
stage coaches, which were then in their hey-day, and I saw
them in their perfection. I had not been here long before
I became greatly interested in them, and their proceedings
presented a new world to me, in which I took the greatest
delight I made myself acquainted with their names, their
times of departure and arrival, and to a great extent the
names of the coachmen and guards. Living in Market
p
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2 lO MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Street, through which all the principal coaches passed, in
whatever part of the premises I was on hearing the sound
of a coach going up and down the street I knew what
coach it was, whether it was going out or coming in, and
the exact time of the day without looking at a watch. To
see a London coach start or arrive afibrded me intense
pleasure.
In 1754, we are told, ''a flying coach left Manchester
and arrived in London (barring accidents) in four days and
a hal£" Six years later a considerable improvement had
taken place through the instrumentality of John Handforth,
Matthew Howe, Samuel Glanville, and William Richardson,
and the journey was performed in three days, ''if God
permit," the inside £u:e being ;^ 2. 5s., and the outside half
the price. In 1773 it is on record that a coach named the
Diligence left Manchester for Liverpool at six a.m.3 that
the passengers break£5isted at Irlam, dined at Warrington,
drank tea at Prescot, and dropped comfortably into
Liverpool at nightfall The journey to Liverpool was
performed on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the
return journey on the alternate days. In 1779 there was
only one stage coach to London.
Fifty years ago there were four coach offices from which
the principal coaches started. The chief of these was the
Royal Hotel office, which was lately occupied as a druggist's
shop. All the principal mails started from this office, the
proprietor of which was Henry Charles Lacy, who was
also the landlord of the hotel. The other three were, the
Swan office, occupied by Weatherald, Webster, and Co.,
near to the present site of Woolley, Sons, and Co. 3 the
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MAIL COACHES. 2 1 1
Peacock, occupied by the late John Knowles and his
&ther ; and the Star, at the comer of the Star Yard and
Deansgate. Besides the Mail there were two London
coaches which started daily from each office, the four-
horsed coaches each carrying, besides coachman and guard,
eleven outside and six inside passengers. Two or three of
them were only pair-horsed coaches, and as the Mail carried
very fe^ passengers, and as the coaches were not invariably
full, it is probable that not a hundred persons then
travelled from Manchester to London daily.
The four principal mail coaches, viz., those from London,
York, Birmingham, and Liverpool, were timed to arrive at
the Royal Hotel each day at four p.m. To me their arrival
was a matter of great interest, and I embraced every
opportunity of witnessing it To see them drive into the
Royal Hotel yard one after the other, almost to a minute,
was an unfailing delight I have seen the London mail
coming at full speed down Piccadilly, whilst I have heard
the horn of the guard of the York mail as it came down
Oldham Street \ then the Birmingham mail, which came
down Oxford Road, turning out of Mosley Street ; whilst
the Liverpool mail, which had deposited its bags at the
Post Office, behind the Exchange, as it came up Market
Street; all arriving nearly at the same time. The front
part of the old yard at the Royal Hotel, which went into
the back street, is now built up, but the shape of the arch
yet remains. The London mail started from the Royal
Hotel at twenty-five minutes past nine a.m., and arrived at
the Swan-with-Two-Necks, Lad Lane, at seven the next
morning, thus occupying twenty-one hours and thirty-five
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2 1 2 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
minutes in the journey. Its route was through Macclesfield,
Leek, Ashbourne, Derby, Leicester, Northampton, and
Dunstable. The Defiance, which started from the same
office, occupied twenty-two hours and a quarter in the
joum^, but some of the London coaches occupied twenty-
four hours. Some time before the railway to London was
completed, a coach was started which, by changing horses
more frequently, completed the journey in seventeeb hours.
The mail coaches were invariably painted dark red and
black, and each had four horses and both coachman and
guard, the latter being dressed in a red coat, and a hat
having a broad gilt hatband, and he generally wore top-
boots. There was only one seat behind, which the guard
occupied ; he was generally provided with a brace of pistols
placed within reach. His horn was always a plain long tin
one, which sounded but one note and its octave, but in the
open country could be heard a great distance. It was
blown to give the horsekeepers notice to be ready to change
horses and to arouse in the night the keepers of the toll-
bars, who were generally quick-eared and had the gate
open when the mail arrived. The guards were often very
respectable men; and I remember one on the Carlisle
mail which passed through Garstang, where my father once
resided, who had been to college, and was known on the
road as "The Collegian."
The most popular London coaches were the Defiance
from the Royal Hotel, the Telegraph from the Star, the
Independent from the Swan, and the Peveril of the Peak
from the Peacock. One of the guards of the Telegraph
was a tall, well-built man named Pretty. He had been a
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THE PEVERIL OF THE PEAK. 2 1 3
musician in the Grenadier Guards, and always attracted
much attention as the Telegraph proceeded up Market
Street, by his splendid playing of the bugle. The Peveril
of the Peak used also to attract a good deal of notice on
account of four handsome piebald horses attached to it as
it left the Peacock at noon. In the midsummer of 1828
I paid a visit with my mother to some relatives near
Dunstable, and we returned to Lancashire by the Peveril
of the Peak, which was then only a pair-horsed coach. We
joined it at a place called Market Street, near Dunstable,
at about ten o'clock p.m. I well remember the night was
wet, and the inside of the coach being full, my mother was
obliged to travel outside, and sat next to the driver. Being
then only a two-horsed coach it had no guard, and I sat
behind.
At some small town through which we passed, about
three or four o'clock in the morning, we changed horses
and had a horse put in which backed the coach against a
garden wall It was a beautiful morning, and I had a lady
companion who was charmed with the beauties of the sky ;
whilst I, a timid lad, was full of fears as to the safety of the
coach. However, we got oS all right, and came to
Manchester through Derby, Matlock, and Buxton — a,
magnificent drive — ^and we arrived about four o'clock.
In 1829 the Red Rover had not begun running to
London, but started a year or two afterwards. It became
a very popular coach, known as a " Patent Safety," as it
was supposed that it would not upset if the axle-tree should
break, inasmuch as it did not reach from wheel to wheel in
a straight line, but was bent downwards towards the
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2 14 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
ground Its chief proprietors were Weatherald, Webster,
and Co., and it started at 8 p.m. I travelled by it to
Birmingham in August of 1836, and remember getting to
Stone at two o'clock in the morning, and finding a cottage
near to the place of changing horses, which was open,
where coffee and toast were supplied, and a good fire kept
up, for the accommodation of the passengers of the many
coaches which passed through the place during the night.
The ride through the Black Country in the dead of the
night, when the darkness was here and there illuminated by
the lurid flames which the various furnaces shot forth,
accompanied by curious noises, was very impressive and
suggestive. A vivid imagination would not have had much
difficulty in picturing Dante's Inferno.
There were about thirty coaches a day to Liverpool by
way of Warrington, one of the most popular being the
Doctor, driven by Tom Coxson, a man who had one leg
shorter than the other. It used to leave Liverpool at
five a.m., arriving here at nine; returning at six p.m., and
arriving at ten. The man who was reputed to be the best
driver out of Manchester was Jerry Scott, the driver of a
Leeds coach.
It was the practice in those days to secure a place on an
important coach beforehand, generally the day before, and
sometimes even two or three days. A '^ way bill" was sent
with the guard, or, if none, by the coachman.
There were generally five coachmen and five guards to a
London coach. The coachman used to drive one coach
out about forty miles and another in on the same day,
whilst the guard went through. He used, for instance, to
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GUARD OF THE PRVERIL. 215
leave Manchester on a Monday, arrive in London on
Tuesday, leave there on Wednesday, arrive here again on
Thursday, rest on Friday, and start again on Saturday.
Both coachmen and guards, not only on the London
coaches but on all others, expected a fee on finishing the
journey. The usual fees on a journey to London were a
shilling to each coachman and half a crown or five shillings
to the guard Many of them were most respectable men.
One of the guards of the Peveril of the Peak was one of
the Labreys, whose brothers were tea dealers. I remember
Horatio Miller, my master, who had travelled with him
from London, saying that he had been struck with the
shape of his head and face, and that he would make one of
the best Falstaffs he had seen. The resources for stowing
away luggage were very limited, and necessarily the size and
style of the trunks and boxes which passengers then took
with them were in striking contrast with the contents of the
luggage van of a railway train of the present day.
Accidents happened to stage coaches, and persons were
sometimes killed owing to the upsetting of the coach.
I well remember, when a boy at school, the sensation
caused there by the intelligence of the death of the fether
of a schoolfellow from this cause, when three Wesleyan
ministers, the Rev. John James, father of the Rev. Dr.
James, late of this city, the Rev. E. B. Lloyd, and the
Rev. George Sargent, left Halifax by coach to attend the
Wesleyan Conference at Sheffield On going down a hill
known as Shelley Bank, near Huddersfield, the coach was
upset, all the passengers being thrown to the ground,
and Messrs. Lloyd and Sargent were killed Sometimes
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2 1 6 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
there was opposition between two coaches, when there
was generally a strife between the coachmen who should
keep first on the road. A good deal of excitement was
created all along the route amongst those who lived by
the roadside, and amongst the inhabitants of the small
towns and villages, as the coaches passed, as to which
took the lead, every person having his favourite coach.
The dexterity with which the horses were changed on
these occasions was amazing. There was generally a man
to each of the four horses, which stood ready harnessed,
the coachman never leaving the box, and the word
''right" was given in two or three minutes, and some-
times less. When home for my holidays once at Garstang,
I remember the North Star and Royal Bruce coaches
passing through to Kendal and changing horses each
afternoon, and on one occasion the coachmen got off
their boxes and began fighting, but of course were stopped
by the passengers.
Having heard that there was an old coachman of the
Peveril of the Peak, named Watmough, living at Wilmslow,
I lately went over to see him. Though eighty-two years
of age I found him as lively and vigorous as most healthy
men are at seventy, and for his age very erect He was
living in a good house in comfortable circumstances, and
in reply to a remark firom me as to his health said:
'' Other drivers when they felt cold used to drink brandy
and water, and tlien shortly would want another glass,
but I never drank anything but water." His father was
an officer in the Blues, retiring on fiiU pay after 37 years'
service, and young Watmough also had a commission in
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AN OLD DRIVER OF TUB PEVERIL. 2 1 7
the Scot's Greys, which he sold previous to his marriage.
He became fond of horses and of driving, and took up
the occupation of driving a stage-coach simply from the
love of it He at first drove the Lady Nelson in opposition
to the Lord Nelson to Nottingham. Eventually a coalition
was effected, and a coach was run by the two opposing
parties called simply the Nelson. On this Mr. Watmough
was transferred to the fast coach before referred to, which
was timed to reach London in 17 hours, running at the
rate of 11 miles an hour. He and a driver named Taylor
had to drive to Derby, and they agreed each to take the
coach to Derby and back on alternate days, so that
each might avoid lodging in Derby, and sleep at home
eveiy night Poor Taylor was afterwards pitched off the
coach and killed, near Macclesfield, leaving a wife and
seven young children. Watmough not liking the route of
the coach, and preferring the one taken by the Peveril of
the Peak, nuule an exchange with one of the coachmen
of the Peveril, known as ''Ned White,", and continued
to drive the latter for ten years. Instead of having five
coachmen to London, the Peveril had only three; and
Watmough drove it as far as Loughborough, horsing the
coach and driving his own horses for two or three
stages. The rate at which the Peveril travelled was
10 miles an hour.
In driving through Longsight he once met with a serious
accident ; he was pitched off the box and the coach fell upon
the lower part of his body. His right thigh was dblocated
and pushed into the r^on of the ribs. He had three
medical men in attendance upon him — Dr. Bardsley and
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2 1 8 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Messrs. Jesse and Harrison — and it was with difficulty that
the dislocation was reduced. His arm was also injured,
but he was able to resume his duties in three months.
I can remember Mr. Watmough's features very well, having
so often when a lad watched him as he sat on the box, reins
in hand, waiting for the guard's "All right"
One of the most famous coachmen who used to drive a
coach out of Manchester to the Potteries, was a man
known as Bob Hadley. He was the son of a large coach
proprietor in Coventry, and was an eccentric and amusing
fellow. Being full of fun, anecdote, and sometimes of
practical joking, he was a general favourite. At one time
he was guard on a Birmingham coach, when he wore a red
hat with a brim about ten inches wide, and a bright scarlet
coat Afterwards he became the driver of the before-
mentioned coach to the Potteries, when he wore sometimes
a white and at others a black hat with an outrageously
broad brim, and a suit of a most extraordinary pattern —
a very large check of such dimensions as to attract the gaze
of the multitude. As an illustration of the speed attained
by stage coaches, I may say that I have before me a
printed card, recounting the performance of a coach named
UHirondelle, from Birkenhead to Cheltenham on the ist of
May, 1833, William Greeves being the guard. It appears
to have left Birkenhead at 49 minutes past 5 a.m., and to
have arrived at Cheltenham at 28 minutes past 3 p.m., per-
forming the whole journey of 131 miles in nine hours and
39 minutes, averaging about 13 miles' an hour. - The ourd
exhibits a list of the eighteen places through which the
coach passed, with the times of arrival at each place.
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GUARD OF THE LORD NELSON.
219
CHAPTER XVIII.
TRAVEL AND GOODS CARRIAGE BY ROAD AND CANAL.
'T^HE names of other coaches to London were the
-'' Herald, the Hawk, the Tally-Ho, the Brace, the
Express, the Bang-up, and the Traveller. To Carlisle there
were the Invincible, the Sir Walter Scott, and the North
Briton ) to Leeds, the Comwallis, the Pilot, the Duchess of
Leeds^ the Highflyer, the Umpire, and the Defiance ; to
Chester, the Victory and the Dart I remember taking a
journey by the Victory in 1829 or '30, starting from the
Royal Hotel at a quarter before six a.m., through Altrincham,
Bucklow Hill, and Northwich, to a village called Kelsall, a
little this side of Chester, where my master had a small
property, and where he sent me to serve some legal notice
on one of his tenants. To Buxton, there were the Royal
Buxton, the Duke of Devonshire, and the Lady Vernon ;
to Nottingham, the Champion and the Lord Nelson, the
latter of which used to drive to the Palace Inn, and which
had for its guard one of the tallest, handsomest, and best
built men I ever saw, wearing a white neckerchief, black
coat, and top boots. I recollect seeing him once lift
a corpulent lady down from the top of the coach with the
same ease with which I should lift a child from off a table.
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220 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
To Southport there was only one coach to carry all the
visitors to that place, except those that went by the passage
boat as far as Scarisbrick, which left the Duke's Quay in
the summer every morning at six. The coach was named
the Pilot, and left the Buck and Hawthorn, St Ann's
Street every day (except Sunday) at twelve. What few
passengers found their way to Blackpool from Manchester
fifty years ago travelled by the Union, the Butterfly, or
the Duke of Manchester to Preston, whence they were
transferred to a pair-horsed coach which went every evening
in the season to Blackpool I remember making my first
journey there by this coach, soon after the railway was
opened to Preston.
On the first of May there was always a grand turn-out of
stage coaches, which formed a procession through the
principal streets, the coachmen and guards making them-
selves and their horses as fine as they could. Many of the
horses had new harness on that day. On the King's
birthday all the mail coaches that could be spared formed
a procession in a similar way, the guards generally having
their new red coats on. The procession on the King's
birthday always included the military, and was a very grand
affair. In the evening the gentlemen of Manchester in
those days used to dine together at the Exchange room,
the price of the dinner tickets being a guinea, which
included wine.
In these old coaching days, before the railway system
was developed, the mode of travelling adopted by the
"nobility and gentry" was that of "posting," which was
a recognized institution all over England On the principal
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POSTING. 221
roads; at intervals of twelve or twenty miles, were inns
known as posting-houses, where a number of suitable horses
and postboys were kept These latter were sometimes
grown-up boys and sometimes men of small stature and
light weight When a gentleman was about to take a
journey in this way he would employ his own travelling
carriage, or else hire a postchaise, and, on starting, would
apply to a posting-house for horses and a postboy to drive
him to the next posting-house on his route. At the second
posting-house he would engage fresh horses and a boy to
the next, and so on to the end of his journey. Generally
the postboy rode one of the horses as a postillion, and was
dressed in a short jacket reaching to the waist, frequently
red, and sometimes blue, or occasionally brown, plentifully
adorned with small bright buttons on the breast He wore
buckskin knee-breeches and top-boots with spurs, and a
velvet skull-cap with a peaL Where there was more than
one posting-house in a small town, each proprietor had a
distinctive coloiu: for his postillions' jackets. Scores of
these houses were ruined by the introduction of railways.
In some instances their proprietors were able to retire, but
others were not so fortunate. The usual number of horses
to a vehicle was two, but very wealthy and very grand
people used four, with two postillions. I well remember,
when at Garstang in the summer, that the number ot these
equipages which used to pass through on theh: way to the
lakes and to Scotland was very large.
When an apprentice, I recollect being in King Street one
Sunday afternoon, and seeing a carriage and foiu: of this
kind proceeding up the street at a very rapid pace, and
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222 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
noticed a gentleman with dark piercing eyes leaniiighis
head in one comer. Lad-like, I ran as hard as I could to
see where the carriage stopped, and saw it stop at the
Albion. Though too late to see its occupant step out, I
learnt that he was Kean (the elder), who had posted from
Liverpool, where he had been fulfilling an engagement,
and was about to fulfil one in Manchester. I have a lively
recollection also of seeing a carriage and four opposite the
door of Mr. Lewis, the newsagent, at the lower end of
Market Street, one afternoon about two or three o'clock.
Out of it had stepped Mr. Charles Murdo Young, the
publisher of the Evening Sun, who had posted all the way
from London, bringing the joyful inteUigence that the
Reform Bill had passed the House of Lords.
The subject of posting brings to my mind another cir-
cumstance which it may be interesting to name. When
Lord Brougham was at the zenith of his popularity he
posted from London to his seat in the north, and when
near the end of his journey some slight accident happened
to his carriage. Somehow the news got to London the next
day that his carriage was overturned and Lord Brougham
was killed The following morning the TYmts contained
a long and masterly biographical notice of him, with free
criticisms on his character and ability as a lawyer and a
statesman, written by Thomas Barnes, the editor, in his best
style. So that Lord Brougham enjoyed the unique luxury,
which is so rarely granted to any man, of reading for himself
what would have been said of him had he been dead
Before leaving the subject of travelling I must not omit
to mention the '' passage boats" which sailed from
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PASSAGE BOATS.
223
Manchester to Runcom, Bolton, Warrington, Worsley, and
Wigan. These were fitted up with large deck cabins,
surrounded with windows, like the lona on the Clyde, so
that a person could be under cover and see the country.
They were each drawn by two or three good horses (on one
of which a postillion in livery was mounted) at the rate of
six miles an hour. One of the Runcorn boats started from
New Bailey Bridge on the river and went by way of
Warrington, whilst the other went on the canal by way of
Stretford, Altrincham, Lymm, London Bridge, and Preston
Brook. Both left here at eight a.m. and arrived at Runcorn
at four p.nL, the fare being 3s. 6d for the fore cabin and
2S. 3d for the after. I once safled in this way to Runcorn
on a beautiful sununer's day, after their speed was
accelerated, when we arrived about one p.m. I never
enjoyed anything of the kind better. I also once sailed
from Bolton one fine summer's evening, leaving there at five
and arriving here about seven. The passage the other side
of Ringley was delightful
The great highway for the transport of goods fifty years
ago was the canal. Amongst the carriers Pickford and Ca
took the lead both by land and water. Their canal
warehouse was on the right-hand side of Dickinson Street
going firom St Peter's to Portland Street The other
carriers by water to the south had their warehouses at
Castlefield Of these I remember Kenworthy and Co.,
Snell, Brice, and Co., Ames, Bach, Green, Heath, and
Robins, Mills, and Co. There were about thirty such
carriers at Castlefield There was also a large canal
warehouse at the lower end of Deansgate, near to Knott
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224 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Mill, known as the Severn Warehouse. To Liverpool by
the Mersey and Irwell there were the Old and New Quay
Companies, and the Grocers' Company. The water carriers
to Hull, Leeds, and other parts of Yorkshire had their
warehouses at the end of Dale Street, where was a large
open space of ground through which the canal passed,
surrounded by warehouses, known as the Rochdale Canal
Yard. The principal carriers to Hull from this wharf were
John Thompson and Co., the founders of the firm of
Thompson, M'Kay, and Co., and Bamby, Faulkner, and Co.
Besides Pickford and Co., one of the great carrying
concerns of Manchester has been that of Carver and Ca,
which fifty years ago was carried on under the name of
Carver, Scott, and Co. About the year 1800 Thomas
Carver was a carrier at Hali^ having one cart He soon
after began to send a wagon to Manchester once a week,
on Tuesday, his son William riding on a pony, and returning
the same day. In 1815 his warehouse was in Dale Street,
but shortly after he removed to a warehouse in Portland
Place, at the Piccadilly end of Portland Street, and the
firm became Carver, Hartley, and Co., but in a few years it
became Carver, Scott, and Co. About 1824 business had
so much increased that instead of sending a wagon once a
week, one was despatched every day, and Mr. Carver came
to reside here, when he built the warehouse at the David
Street end of Portland Street, with a house for himself in
David Street Mr. William Carver continued to reside in
David Street till about 1844, when he went to live at
Mount Clifton, near Old Trafford.
I remember Mr. Faulkner very well as a very gentle-
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THE LOSS OF THE ROTHSAY CASTLE.
225
manly man, and a friend of my master. He lost his wife
and two children in the ill-fated Rothsay Castle. This
steamer, which was very lightly built, and was only intended
for the navigation of the Clyde, saQed from Liverpool one
morning in August, 1831, for Beaumaris, with about 150
persons on board When off Abergele a terrible storm
arose, increasing every moment in violence, so much so
that the afirighted passengers besought the captain to
return, and some of them offered him money to do so
without avail, for he determined to proceed After being
subject to the buffeting of the waves many hours, at
midnight, near Puffin Island, the vessel became a wreck,
and out of the 150 persons on board only about twenty-
three were saved One of these was Mr. John Nuttall, the
druggist, of Bury, a friend of my master, and from whose
lips I have heard a narration of the dreadful catastrophe
and of his rescue.
The carriage of goods by land was effected by means of
wagons and carts, of which above one hundred left Man-
chester, some of them daily and others two or three times a
week, to various places, as near as Eccles and as remote as
Bristol and Edinburgh. One of the principal carriers of
this description was Ann Johnson, a widow, whose husband
had previously carried on the business, her warehouse
being in Oak Street These wagons were large, substantial
vehicles, having very broad strong wheels, and the goods
were covered by a hood. They were generally drawn by
four houses, and were accompanied by a substantial-look-
ing carter dressed in a *' smock-frock." How rare it is to
see one of these overalls in Manchester now ! It appears
Q
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226 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
these wagons were sometimes drawn by six horses, for I
have one of Ann Johnson's advertisements now before me,
at the head of which is a woodcut of one drawn by six
horses. In the advertisement it is stated that the wagon
for Liverpool leaves every evening at seven o'clock, and
arrives there at nine the followmg morning. Her wagon
for Birmingham left Manchester every Wednesday and
Saturday evening at eight o'clock, arriving there in two
days, whence goods for Bristol were forwarded by Gabb
and Shurmer, arriving there on the fourth day after their
departure from hence. Goods from London by Pickford's
boat were in like manner delivered in Manchester in four
days after leaving Londoa
Parcels, as already intimated, were often despatched by
coach as the quickest means of conveyance ; but another
means was adopted of carrying them more speedily than by
wagon but not quite so fast as by coach, and that was by
Pickford's van. This was a large oblong vehicle, like an
immense box, on springs, drawn by four horses, with a
coachman in front and a guard behind. There were two
which left Pickford's van warehouse in Marsden's Square
daily, except Sundays, one to London and one to Liver-
pool The one to London made the journey in thirty-six
hours. Reminiscences of these vans used to be seen in the
signs of several public-houses called the Van Tavern. The
signboards bore faithfully-executed pictures of Pickford's
van, with horses, coachman, and guard. One of the last
of these signs which I can remember disappeared a few
years ago from the comer of a street turning out of
Chester Road
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RAILWAY TO LIVERPOOL.
227
CHAPTER XIX.
OPENING OF THE RAILWAY TO LIVERPOOL.
We miss the cantering team, the winding way,
The roadside halt, the posthorn's well-known air,
The inns, the gaping towns, and all the landscape £ur.
T ITE can now afford to laugh at the dogmatism of
those who once declared and "demonstrated" the
impossibQity of the success of railway locomotion. The
opening of the railway between Manchester and Liverpool
was effected in the face of the most determined opposition,
into which as usual a large amount of sentiment was im-
ported. Agriculturists shuddered at the thought of the
invasion of their peaceful retreats, and the sullying of the
purity of the fleeces of the sheep by clouds of smoke.
Members of Parliament in their places declared that
railwajTS would prove dangerous and delusive speculations,
and were unknown to the constitution. Medical men
vividly depicted the horrors and dangers which would
attend their use. The most strenuous opposition, however,
came from the proprietors of the Mersey and Irwell
Navigation, the Bridgewater Canal, and the Leeds and
Liverpool Canal, and from the Earls of Derby and Sefton.
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228 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
After a vigorous discussion in a Parliamentary Committee
for thirty-seven days, the first clauses of the bill were
negatived by a large majority, and the first bill was with-
drawn. A second was introduced into Parliament, which,
being largely backed by public opinion, was more successfiiL
Amongst other fisdse notions which were current, was a
vague idea that the development of railways would diminish
the demand for horses. I well remember how the stationers'
windows contsuned caricatures representing, for instance,
poor half-starved horses looking over the railings at a
passmg train, and holding conversations as to their own
condition and prospects.
Despite all this ignorant opposition, the 15th of Sep-
tember, 1830, arrived, on which day the line was opened
by the Duke of Wellington. I well remember the day. It
seemed to me as if the towns by which Manchester is
surrounded had emptied themselves, and poured their adult
population into Manchester and the neighbourhood. It
has been calculated that not less than 500,000 persons
were congregated along the line, from Manchester to
Liverpool, to witness the grand procession of engines
and carriages which was to proceed firom Liverpool to
Manchester. The cort^e consisted of eight engines and
thirty-three carriages, which contained the directors, their
friends, and a large number of nobility and gentry. Besides
the Duke of Wellington, who was then prime minister,
there were present Sir Robert Peel, home secretary; Lord
Leveson-Gower, secretary for Ireland; Prince Esterhazy,
the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earls of Wilton, Cassilis,
Glengall, Gower, and Lauderdale; Viscounts Melbourne,
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OPENING OF LINE TO LIVERPOOL.
229
Combermere, Sandon, Belgrave, Grey, Ingestre, the Bishop
of Lichfield, Lords Stanley (afterwards Earl of Derby),
Skelmersdale, Whamcliffe, Fitzroy, Somerset, Delamere,
Colville, Dacre, Hill, Granville, and Monson; the Right
Hoa William Huskisson, M.P. for Liverpool; Sir George
Murray, afterwards a candidate for the representation of
Manchester; General Gascoyne, Admiral White, the
Marchioness of Salisbury, the Countess of Wilton, and
Mrs. Huskisson. The engines were the Northumbrian,
North Star, Rocket, Dart, Comet, Arrow, Meteor, and
Phoenix. The procession occupied both lines of rails, the
Northumbrian, drawing the state car, moving on the
southern line of rails, whilst the remaining seven took
the other line.
The morning opened most propitiously as to the weather,
and about half-past ten I set off with my brother and a
friend to witness the wonderful sight of a train being moved
without horses. We proceeded along the banks of the
railway for a mile or two before we found a vacant spot,
which we occupied, but were soon surrounded by a crowd
of others. Whilst waiting for the expected procession a
thundarstorm passed over us. We waited as patiently as
we could till nearly one o'clock, but still no procession
came in sight It seemed strange, for the procession was
to leave Liverpool at ten. The patience of everybody was
becoming exhausted, when the sound of an approaching
engine was heard, and there was a cry of "They are
coming." We were all excited, and every neck was
stretched to see the procession. Instead of this there
was a solitary engine — the Northumbrian — ^with the present
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230
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Earl of Wiltoiiy then a comparatively young man, on board
In those days he was often in Manchester on horseback,
so that I knew him by sight and was able to recognize him
as he passed on the engine, which was dashing along at full
speed. In ten minutes it returned, also at full speed,
carrying, besides the Earl, three or four other gentlemen.
Everybody was sure that something strange had occurred,
and by-and-by the news spread that an accident had
happened to Mr. Huskisson. There being no signs of any
procession the crowd for the most part dispersed, and I
retraced my steps homeward.
It appears that the procession started from Liverpool at
half past ten o'clock, amidst the shouts of an immense
throng and the sounds of joyous music, and reached
Parkside, about seventeen miles from Liverpool, in safety.
Here the engines stopped to take in fresh water, during
which process the Duke of Wellington, Mr. Huskisson, and
other of the passengers left their seats to stroll about The
Duke had returned to his seat, when a recognition having
passed between him and Mr. Huskisson, the latter hastened
to the carriage of the Duke, and was shaking hands with
him when a cry was raised that the other train was
approaching on the opposite rails. Many persons availed
themselves of the warning, and moved off the line, but
Mr. Huskisson, who seemed for the moment to lose his
presence of mind, stepped back on to the other line, and
was knocked down by the engine, the wheels of which
passing over his thigh fractured it in a fearful manner. He
was raised from the ground by the Earl of Wilton and
others, and being placed in the car appropriated to the
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MR. HUSKISSOirS FATAL ACCIDENT.
231
musicians^ was taken to Eccles, where he found an asylum
in the residence of the Vicar. The Earl of Wilton and
Mr. Stephenson proceeded to Manchester on the
Northumbrian engine as quickly as possible, and on making
inquiries for surgeons, Messrs.. Whatton, Ransome, Garside,
and White being on the ground, mounted the tender and
returned with the Earl to Eccles to administer professional
aid to the sufferer. He expired at nine o'clock the same
evening, having retained his consciousness to the end
The carriages arrived in Manchester about three o'clock
p.m., and returned to Liverpool aknost immediately. The
various festivities which had been arranged in order to
celebrate the occasion were abandoned, the Duke spending
the evening in seclusion with the Marquis of Salisbury.
The next day he quitted Lancashire, and could not be
induced to take part in any of the public rejoicings to
which his presence gave rise, and of which he should have
been the object. When the accident happened, the Duke
proposed that they should return to Liverpool without
finishing the journey ; and it was only on Mr. Bulkel^y Price,
th^ Boroughreeve> representing to him that the disappoint-
ment to such a vast crowd as was assembled at Manchester
might lead to some disturbance, that he replied "There is
something in that," and consented to go on.
In the adoption of a new system of travelling, as with
many other changes, it seemed impossible to jump from old
practices and habits into a new order of things without
passing through a transition state. For instance, as there
had been only two classes of passengers by coach — inside
and outside — so there were at first only two classes of
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232
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
trains. There were seven trains a day each way, four
first-dass and three seamd-dass The fiist-dass went at
7 and lo a-UL, and 2 and 5 pjn. ; and the secondrdass at
7-30 a.nL9 and i and 5-30 p.m. On Tuesday and Saturday,
which were then the two prindpal market days, the last
train left at 6 p.m. In a little while two additional trains
were despatched. On Sunday, the first-class train left at
8 a-UL and 5 p.nL, and the second-class at 7 a.nL and 6 p.nL,
the time occupied in the journey being one hour and three
quarters. The faxes were, by first-dass trains in coaches
holding four inside, 7s. ; and in those holding six, 5s. ; by
second-class trains, in glass coaches, 5s.; and in open
carriages, 3s. 6d. This was the classification adopted by
the railway company, but we see that virtually there were
four classes of passengers, and three classes of &res. The
railway then terminated at the comer of Water Street and
Liverpool Road, where the booking-office was. The
company, shortly after the opening, took an office at the
comer of New Cannon Street and Market Street, where
passengers could be booked, and whence passengers by
first-dass trains could be conveyed by omnibus, fiee, to the
office in Liverpool Road. There were four of these
omnibuses provided, each of which had the word
"Auxilium" painted on it The trains were started by
the blowing of a hora
What I have termed the transition state was marked
by other peculiarities. As has been stated, when a
passenger travelled by coach he had to be booked, his
name being entered in a book and on the way bill So
you could not travel to Liverpool without being booked.
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BOOKING BY RAILWAY.
233
and your name entered The clerks (one of whom, named
Mackenzie, I knew) were provided with books made of
yellow paper, containing foil and counterfoil, on each of
which your name was written, when one part was torn
out and given to you. Edmondson's system of tickets had
not then been invented Again, there was nothing like
the promptitude we now enjoy in starting the trains, owing
to late arrivals. After a time a notice was issued to the
effect that ''in order to insure punctuality in the time of
starting, which has frequently been prevented by persons
claiming to be booked after the appointed time, no
passenger, unless previously booked, will be admitted
within the outer door of the station after the clock has
struck the hour of departure;" and, strange to say, it
was added, ''passengers too late to take their seats or
otherwise prevented going, may receive back half the fare
paid, if claimed not later than the day after that for
which the places were booked" Hence there can be no
doubt that persons were frequently booked some time
before the journey was begun. Another striking circum-
stance was that at first there were no wayside stations
except at Newton, and the train stayed anywhere on the
line to suit the convenience of passengers. After a few
months, sixteen places were appointed at which the train
stopped, and an announcement was made that "with a
view to obviate in some measure the inconvenience
occasioned by the frequent stoppages to take up and
set down passengers on the road, all short fares, except-
ing those to Newton, will in future be taken by the
second-class trains only." The first-class trains were only
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234
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
to stop at NewtoiL The directors announced that they
were determined to prevent the practice of supplying liquor
on the road, and requested the passengers not to alight, and
added that ''the second-class trains would stop at any of
the sixteen places named, but to avoid delay passengers
were requested to have the money ready to pay the guards*
Before this regulation as to liquor was issued I took a
journey to Liverpool in the stand-up boxes, and well
recollect on the return stopping at Patricroft, opposite to
an inn on the left-hand side, and seeing a young woman,
carrying* along a large tray of glasses containing liquors
and cigars, which she supplied to many of the passengers.
The first-class carriages contained three compartments,
the middle one . resembling the body of a stage coach,
something like a capital U, whilst before and behind it
were smaller ones, resembling a post chaise. The cairiages
containing outside passengers were oblong open boxes,
painted blue, without seats and without roo£ In a little
while seats were provided, and after that a roof was
supplied, supported by iron rods. Just as every stage-
coach was designated by some name, so during the
transition stage each first-class carriage was designated in
like manner. Amongst the names which I remember
were King William, Queen Adelaide, Duke of Wellington,
Sir Robert Peel, Earl of Wilton, and William Huskisson.
It was some time after the opening of the line before
I could get to see a train in motion. At length, one sum-
mer's evening when in Oldfield Road, I got on the railway
embankment, and to my inexpressible delight a train firom
Liverpool passed.
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COMMISSIONERS OF POUCE. 235
CHAPTER XX.
GOVERNMENT OF THE TOWN : CURIOUS OFFICIALS.
The government of the town was far more democratic
fifty years ago than it is to-day; for instead of the
governing body consisting of forty-eight councillors, a
mayor, and a few aldermen, the town was governed by
240 of its principal citizens, who were sworn in as
commissioners. At their head were the boroughreeve
and two constables. Instead of several hundred blue-
coated gentlemen perambulating the streets to keep order,
the town was divided into sixteen''^ districts, in each of
which, according to its size, from ten to forty inhabitants
were appointed as special constables, charged to preserve
the peace within that district. One of their number was
appointed the conductor. For instance, in the Oxford
Street district, which was bounded by Bond Street,
Brook Street, Mosley Street, and the river Medlock,
Mr. Thomas Sowler, the proprietor of the Courier, was
* Fourteen of these districts are the same which now exist ; but
there were two others which were designated thus : — " No 15 District
—(Extra)" and "No. 16 District— (Extra)." To these two districts
special constables were appointed, as to the others, No. 16 having as
many as thirty-four.
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236
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
the conductor, and amongst the specials under him were
James Pigot, jun., the publisher of the Directory, whose
house was in Marble Street, and Mark Whitehead, the
calenderer, of Back Mosley Street. Mr. Emanuel Mendel,
the father of Mr. Sam Mendel, was one of the constables of
St John's district ; Mr James Bake (afterwards alderman)
of St Clement's ; Mr. William Glasgow, millwright, and
his brothers John and David, of the St Peter's districts.
Amongst the 240 commissioners were Messrs. Samuel
Brooks and his brother John, Elkanah Armitage,
Thomas Bazley, and Hugh Hornby Birley ; John Edward
Taylor, and Jeremiah Gamett, proprietors of the
Manchester Guardian; Mark Philips, afterwards M.P.
for Manchester; Thomas and Edward Binyon, Samuel
Fletcher, Thomas Fleming, and William Labrey.
The commissioners divided themselves into the six
following committees, with the names of the chairmen
and deputy-chairmen : — (i) Improvement, Gilbert Winter
and J. Bradshaw; (2) Finance, Benjamin Braidley and
William Haynes; (3) Watch, Nuisance, and Hackney
Coach, William Haynes and William Neild (afterwards
Alderman Neild); (4) Lamp, Scavenging, Fire Engine,
and Main Sewer, Henry Forth (afterwards of Forth and
Marshall) and John Barlow; (5) Accounts, Benjamin
Braidley and John Edward Taylor; (6) Paving and
Soughing, Thomas Hopkins and George Hall. On this
last committee were David Bellhouse and Jeremiah Gamett.
The Surveyors of the Highway were Thomas Fleming,
Leaf Square, Pendleton; Charles Ryder, Collyhurst Hall;
Peter Watson, Store Street, Piccadilly; Robert Andrew,
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STEPHEN LAVENDER.
237
Turkey-red dyer, Green Mount, Harpurhey ; David
Bellhouse, Nicholas Street ; Edmund Buckley, iron
merchant and copperas manufacturer, Mather Street, and
Richard Warren, gentlemen, Leigh Place, Ardwick. There
were then only three collectors of the " Highway Ley."
The deputy constable was Stephen Lavender, whose
house was near the present site of the Bank of England
in King Street He succeeded the notorious Joseph Nadin,
who had been deputy constable twenty years when he
resigned it Lavender had been one of the celebrated
Bow Street officers, and was one of those who were ordered
to arrest the Cato Street Conspirators. He afterwards
traced Thisdewood to an obscure lodging, and only escaped
with his life by flinging himself on the bed in which lay
Thistlewood, who was in the act of firing a pistol at him.
He died in 1833, having held the office twelve years, and
was succeded by Joseph Saddler Thomas.
All the paid staff which Lavender had under him in
1829 were four beadles, whose names were Thomas
Worthington, George Moss, Anthony Jefferson, and John
Page; seven assistants, and four street-keepers. The
colour of their livery was brown. Soon after I came to
Manchester I well remember hearing of a riot in the
neighbourhood of Ancoats, when one or two factories were
set on fire. I was passing the Royal Hotel just as
Lavender was coming up Mosley Street at the head of
about nine or ten beadles, walking in single file, each
carrying a drawn cutlass in his hand, and remember seeing
them cross over from Mosley Street to Oldham Street. Of
course they would be assisted in quelling the disturbance
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238 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
by the special constables of the district Fifty years ago,
when trade was bad and food scarce, as I have before
remarked, it was the practice of the working classes to
try and mend matters by rioting, attacking cotton fectories,
smashing the machinery, and often setting fire to them.
I well remember, when a boy, going throu^ the fectoiy
of the Messrs. Whitehead at Rawtenstall with my &ther,
and one of the firm explaining to him how a mob had
a short time previously broken into the &ctoiy and
destroyed a large quantity of the machinery. In 1829
the factories of Mr. Thomas Harbottle, Mr. James Guest,
and Messrs. Twiss were gutted, and that of Messrs. Parker
was burnt down.
The boroughreeve for 1829 was David Bannerman, who
then lived in Mosley Street, and the two constables were
Robert Ogden and John Bentley. Mr. Ogden was a
cotton spinner, and lived next door to Mr. Houldsworth,
the M.P., in Portland Place, and Mr. Bentley, who was
out of business, lived just round the comer in Piccadilly.
Besides the beadles I have named, other paid officials in
connection with the town's business were : One keeper of
each of the four lock-ups in Swan Street, Knot Mill,
London Road, and Kirby Street; two clerks, one office-
keeper, one comptroller, one cashier, two inspectors of
nuisances, and five collectors of gas rents— viz., James
Booth, Isaac Mawson, George Pratt, William Gleave, and
Evan Mellor, the four last of whom also collected the
police rate.
Our interests at night used to be committed to the care
of a number of men, some of whom were advanced in
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OLD WATCHMEN. 239
years, known as watchmen, but who were nick-named
"Charleys." They wore broad-brimmed hats havfaig a
yellow band round each, and brown topcoats. Little
wooden huts known as watch-boxes, just large enough to
allow one man to sit in, were provided for them, and w^e
placed in quiet comers in each district I remember there
was one near to our back gates in Cromford Court It used
to be said that young fellows returning home late occasion-
ally upset a watchman in his box by overturning it Their
practice, as they went their rounds, was to bawl out the
hour of the night and the kind of weather which prevailed ;
as, for instance, " Past twelve, fine starry night" In this
case they would emphasise the word "past" by elongating
the sound of the vowel, and dip the " twelve " rather short
It was a very comfortable thing if you happened to be
awake in the night to know how matters were going on
outside in these respects.
I have not been able to ascertain the exact number of
watchmen employed in Manchester in 1829, but have
ascertained that in 1815 there were fifty-three and ten
supernumeraries, the wages of the watchmen being as
follows : From November to February inclusive, thirteen
shillings per week for ten hours fi:om 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. \ for
March, April, September, and October, eleven-and-sixpence
per week, hours firom 9 till 5 ; for the four summer months,
ten shiUings per week, hours from 10 till 4. There were
two police officers at that time, Samuel Foxcroft and
Jonathan Hem. In 1825 the number of watchmen was
seventy-four and nine supernumeraries, whose wages had by
this time been increased five shillings per week.
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240
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
As already stated in an earlier chapter, fifty years ago
Manchester possessed no police court of its own, the only
one being in Salford at the New Bailey, which was presided
over for many years by John Frederick Foster, a barrister,
who was generally respected, and filled the office so as to
win universal applause. His salary was ;^i,ooo per annum,
which was provided by a magisterial rate levied on the
inhabitants of the two towns of Manchester and Salford
He was assisted by six unpaid magistrates, one of whom
was Mr. Isaac Blackbume, the distributor of stamps ; and
another was the Rev. C. W. Ethelstone, one of the Fellows
of the Old Church.
Besides those already mentioned Manchester possessed
several other officers who were employed in the government
of the town. These were for the most part tradesmen and
other men of business. There were, for instance, two
"mise leyers** and one "mise gatherer." There were
twenty-four ''market lookers for fish and flesh,'' amongst
them being Thomas Yates, of the Star Hotel; Stephen
Lavender, and Thomas Skinner Noton. There were
nine ''inspectors of white meats/' amongst them being
Mr. George Crossley, the governor of the Blue-coat School
There were eleven "officers to prevent engrossing,
regrating, and forestalling," amongst them being Henry
Charles Lacy, the great coach proprietor and landlord of
the Royal Hotel. The two officers "for tasting wholesome
ale and beer " were William Eland, the box-office keeper at
the theatre, who lived in Brazenose Street ; and Alexander
Bower, a drysalter, living at the Oaks, Fallowfield.
Mr. Joshua Ryle, a woollen draper in Old Millgate, was
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CURIOUS OFFICIALS.
241
the '' market looker for the assize of bread" There were
seven ''bye-law men," and about the same number for
<< muzzling mastiff dogs and bitches/' amongst whom were
George Southam, the grocer, and father of the late eminent
suigeon of that name, and Richard Thelwell, the silver-
smith in St. Ann's Square, each person being appointed to
a certain district There were ofl&cers "to prevent the
cutting and gashing of raw hides," and "searchers and
sealers of leather," the same two gentlemen filling both
offices, James Travis and John Baggs, and each being a
boot and shoe maker. There were officers "for distributing
the rent-charge of Collyhurst"
The most surprising of these appointments was that of
"scavenger," which was filled by a number of most respect-
able inhabitants. Amongst them were Mr. Thomas Sowler,
who was appointed to St Aim's Square and back streets ;
Mr. Robert Duck, agent for the Sun Fire Office, to Market
Street; and Mr. Henry Charles Lacy to Shudehill, High
Street, and back streets. There were about fifteen of these
officials. The last of these offices was that of " pounder,"
which was filled by Robert Burton. All these appomt-
ments were made by the Lord of the Manor at his court
leet, which was held in a room over the Shambles in Brown
Street, the present site of the Post Office.
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242
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER XXL
GAS, WATER, AND HACKNEY COACHE&
nPHERE are not many things which remind us more
of the great changes which have taken place in our
daily surroundings than the price of Ga& Fifty years ago
its price in Manchester was twelve shillings per thousand
cubic feet, to-day it is three shillings for gas of nearly
double its illuminating power. When the Peace of Amiens
was celebrated in 1802, the front of Boulton and Watt's
manufactory was brilliantly lighted up with gas, when all
Birmingham poured forth to view the spectacle, and
strangers carried to every part of the country an account
of what they had seen. The news was spread everywhere
by the newspapers, with instructions how to prepare the
gas, and coal was distilled in tobacco-pipes at the fireside
all over the kingdom. A successful instance of such
experimenting I can well remember when a very litde boy
some years after. Three years after the illumination by
gas of Boulton and Watt's manu^tory, Mr. Murdoch, a
Cornish engineer, visited this neighbourhood, and was
engaged by Messrs. Phillips and Lee to light up their
factory in Chapel Street, Salford. Their example was soon
followed by other persons, one of the earliest places thus
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CHARGE FOR GAS. 243
lighted bemg the Police Office situated in Police Street, at
the lower end of King Street. If is said that the first private
house lighted with gas here was that of Mr. James Leech,
who lived in a large house in Springfield Lane, Salford.
The first gasworks were erected in Water Street in 181 7,
and the first Gas Act was obtained in 1824. The merit of
originating the gasworks of Manchester upon the present
basis, so that firom the first they became the property of
the ratepayers and the profits were appropriated to the
improvement of the town, is due to the late George
William Wood, formerly M.P. for the southern division of
the county, and Mr. Thomas Fleming, sen., through whose
united efibrts this great boon was secured. Fifty years ago
gas was. supplied in two ways — ^by meter and by burner.
If supplied by meter the price was, as I have said, twelve
shillings per thousand feet Places of worship, nlanu-
factories, inns, and places where the time of burning it was
irregular were supplied by meter only; but shops and
places where the gas was burnt at stated and regular
intervals were supplied and charged according to the
number and kind of burners used. The burners were
supplied by the Commissioners, and were of two kinds,
Cockspurs and Argands. A scale of prices was issued
embracing three particulars — ^the number of jets, the height
of the flame, and the hour of extinguishing the gas. The
hours for extinguishing the gas were eight, nine, ten, eleven,
or twelve o'clock, and twelve for all on Saturday evenings.
No extra charge was made if the light was extinguished
within fifteen minutes of the time contracted for; but if the
gas was burnt at any other time, the consumer, if discovered.
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244
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
was fined. All rents by burners were to be paid in advance.
The department was managed by thirty directors, who were
chosen from the body of Police Commissioners, ten of
whom retired annually, when ten others were appointed in
their stead. Their principal staff consisted of a secretary,
John Thorpe, jun. ; a superintendent of No. i Station,
Jacob Davies; a general superintendent, John Outhett; an
inspector, James Crompton ; an office clerk, James Ehew ;
and five collectors. Fifty years ago the gas receipts for the
year were ^^20,000, and the payment from the gas profits
to the Improvement Committee was under ;^ 7,000. The
receipts for 1879 were ^^320,000, and the payment to the
Improvement Committee ^^52,000. These figures are
amazing, and most strikingly indicate the difference between
the Manchester of fifty years ago and that of to-day.
Water. — Manchester was not so fortunate in the case of
its water supply as with that of gas. In the first instance it
was not taken up by the Police Commissioners, but was left
to the enterprise of others. The Manchester and Salford
Waterworks Company was established in 1808, and fifty
years ago the supply of both towns was in their hands,
at which time the daily consimiption was about 1,400,000
gallons. The company had small reservoirs at Gorton,
Beswick, Bradford, and Audenshaw, and their office, which
I well remember, was a few doors higher up than the
Albion Hotel, Piccadilly, and next door to the bookshop
of Mr. William Ellerby. At first the water was supplied
in stone pipes, for which iron ones were substituted in
181 7, the stone ones being very liable to burst But the
name "stone pipe water" continued long after, for I well
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HACKNEY COACHES. 245
recollect that this was the name generally used to describe
the compan/s water fifty years ago. It was then only
turned on for about three or four hours each day. In
Market Street it was turned on generally at noon, and
was received into a large stone cistern, which stood in the
yard of the premises where I was, at the bottom of which
a smaller vessel of porous stone was cemented, which
served as a filter. The peculiar noise produced by the
water driving the air out of the pipe before it came on I
seem as if I could hear now, while my thoughts are carried
back to those times.
Hackney Coaches. — Fifty years ago cabs were not
known in Manchester, and were not introduced into the town
till ten years after. The first vehicle of this kind was built
by Mr. W. H. Beeston, of Tib Street, for Mr. William White,
of Spear Street, who began plying with it from the
Piccadilly stand in 1839. Mr. White is probably the
oldest coach and cab proprietor in Manchester, and fifty
years ago lived in Rook Street The vehicles known as
hackney coaches, which have been supplanted by cabs,
were larger and much heavier, and were drawn by two
horses, though in the later period of their history smaller
ones were constructed, which were drawn by one horse
only. It appears that there was an attempt to establish
hackney coaches here as early as 1750, but the extremities
of the town being comparatively so near together, and
within easy walking distance, the inhabitants did not
encourage the attempt, still preferring the ^vourite
sedan chair when they wished to ride. In 1750 we find
there were two hackney coaches which stood in St. Ann's
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246 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Square. In 1810 hackney coaches were finally established
in Manchester, and in 1815 as many as twenty coaches,
but not more, were allowed to ply for hire in Manchester
and Salford, or within four miles. The coaches were to
stand in the centre of St Ann's Square, and at the top
of Market Street, between Marsden Square, and High
Street; the fare being eighteenpence a mile if charged
by distance.* It was at the discretion of the driver to
charge either by time or distance. If by time, the &re
was eighteenpence for any time not exceeding half an
hour. Fifty years ago the number of coaches allowed had
increased to fifty, which were distributed as follows :
Fourteen in a line along the middle of St Ann's Square,
ten in a line along the middle of the higher end of
Market Street, from the end of Palace Street towards
High Street, and the remainder in a line along the south
side of Piccadilly. The year after the railway to Liverpool
was opened the committee added six coaches to those
previously allowed, which were to ply opposite the railway
office in Liverpool Road, and at the junction of Oxford
Street and Lower Mosley Street Very stringent regulations
existed as to the provision of check-strings, and as to the
omission of the driver to hold the same when driving.
The fares were the same as those just quoted as existing
in 181 5, with the exception that provision was made for
coaches drawn by one horse, the fares for which were a
shilling a mile.
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FIRST INFIRMARY. 247
CHAPTER XXII.
MEDICAL AND OTHER CHARITABLE INSTnUTION&
TT IS to the efforts of Mr. Charles White, assisted by a
few other gentlemen, that the establishment of the
first Manchester infirmary is due. In 1752 a house in
Garden Street, ShudehiU, was taken for the purpose,
Mr. Joseph Massey undertaking to pay all the expenses of
the first year, and Mr. Charles White volunteering his
services as a medical maa Mr. White, it is well known,
was an eminent surgeon, who resided in a large and hand-
some house which stood on the site of the old Town Hall,
having formerly been a pupil of the celebrated John
Hunter. The house was opened as an infirmary on the
24th of June, and, by the end of the year, seventy-five
in-patients had been received and 249 out-patients had
been treated; the first year's expense, which was defrayed
by Mr. Massey, being ^405. The success of the under-
taking was so marked that a public meeting was called, at
which a resolution was passed to erect a building capable
of holding eighty patients.
At this time there were but few houses between Market
Street Lane and the village of Ardwick. Somewhere about
where the Infirmary esplanade now is was a large and long
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248 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
pity known as ^ Danbhdes,* behind iduch was '^ Danbhoks
Field" Most people are soffidently acquainted with die
traditions of Manchester as to know that it was in dns pit
that ''scolds" were formerlj dipped by means of die duck-
ing stool The field and pond were the property of the
lord of die manors Sir Oswald Mosley, who liberally gave a
lease of the land for a term of 990 years for the purpose of
erecting an infirmary on it, when the pcmd became the once
well-known ^ Infirmary pond," but is now a thing of the
past. The first stone of the new Infirmary was laid on the
2oth of May, 1754, by Mr. Miles Bower, according to one
account; but, according to Dr. Renaud, by Mr. Biassey,
who became its first president The total cost of the
building and its fiimiture was about ^4,ooa The money
was fireely contributed by die inhabitants, and amongst
other contributions were the proceeds of the first night's
performance at the new theatre in Marsden Street In 1760
a musical entertainment was given in the grounds of the
Infirmary, the proceeds of which were given to its fimds.
The Infirmary was finished and opened in 1755. To Man-
chester belongs the honour of founding the second lunatic
asylum in the English provinces, which was built as a wing
to the Infirmary, having a lower elevation, between that
building and Portland Street, at a cost (including furnish-
ing) of ;^i,5oo, and was finished in 1766. In 1787 and
1790 considerable additions were made at the back of the
Infirmary, so that out-patients could be admitted daily
instead of on Monday only as heretofore. In 1792 still
further additions were made, and it became necessary to
appeal to the public for fimds. This was done through the
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HOSPITAL SUNDAY. 249
medium of a Hospital Sunday in all the churches and
chapels in Manchester, when ^4,000 was thus collected,
the laigest amount being taken at the Independent Chapel
in Mosley Street, the pulpit then being filled by the
Rev. T. Kennedy, and the collection amounting to ;^22o.
In 1783 an ''air balloon" ascended from the Infirmary
grounds, which alighted at Cromford, in Derbyshire. The
admittance to the grounds was one shilling, the proceeds
going to the Infirmary funds.
The erection thus described was standing exactly in the
same state fifty years ago. It was a plain brick building,
which, with the lunatic hospital, extended in the direction
of Portland Street, having the large pond in fix)nt extending
the whole length, railed ofT firom the street with plain iron
palisading. The baths, which were built about 1781, were
on the right of the entrance gates, and fifty years ago were
under the superintendence of Mr. William Galor.* At that
time the president of the Infirmary was the Earl of Stamford
and Warrington, and the treasurer Mr. Thomas Entwistle,
whilst of deputy-treasurers there were no less than twenty-
seven. The physicians to the institution were, Drs. John
Mitchell, Edmund Lyon, Edward Garbutt, J. L. Bardsley,
Davenport Hulme, and W. C. Henry. The surgeons
were, W. Simmons, John Thorpe, J. A. Ransome, James
Ainsworth, Robert Thorpe, and W. J. Wilson. The visiting
apothecaries were John Cook and Daniel Lynch, both of
them druggists, but, having been in business before the
Apothecaries Act of 1815, still retained the privilege of
* An account of them has been given on page 9.
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250 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
visidng patients. Mr. H. T. Worthington was the house
apothecary, and Mr. W. R Guest house surgeon. The
collector was Mr. James Molineux, who was a friend of my
master, and had been overtaken by some of the disasters of
1836. The matron was Mrs. Sarah Loftus, and the secre-
tary, Mr. H. Neild, who afterwards became the manager
of the Savings Bank. The treasurer of the adjoining
institution was Mr. Thomas Hoyle, and the other officers were
those of the Infirmary. Connected with the Infirmary was
also the Board of Health, or House of Recovery (for sick
and fever patients), in Aytoun Street, which was opened in
1797. Its president in 1829 was the first Sir Robert Peel,-
its vice-president Mr. R. J. Norreys, and the medical
officers were those of the Infirmary. In 181 8 an amateur
performance took place at the Theatre Royal, for the benefit
of the asylum, when the proceeds amounted to ;^3oo.
What is now known as St. Mary's Hospital was then
called the Lying-in Hospital, and was situated on the bank
of the Irwell opposite the front of New Bailey Prison in
Stanley Street, Salford. It was first established in 1790, and
was removed to Stanley Street in 1796, where it stood fifty
years ago, but was some time afterwards removed to North
Parade, St Mary's. Its president was the Earl of Grosvenor,
and its vice-presidents Sir Robert Peel, Sir Oswald Mosley,
the Rev. Dr. Calvert, warden of the Collegiate Church, and
Mr. Joseph Yates, iron merchant, of Portland Street The
treasurer was Mr. Hugh Hornby Birley, with twelve deputy-
treasurers, amongst whom were Mr. Benjamin Joule
and Mr. J. Ollivant Dr. Hull was the physician, and
Messrs. John and Robert Thorpe and Dr. Agnew the
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EYE INSTITUTION. 2 5 1
<< surgeons-extraordinary." The surgeons for the out-
districts were Messrs. James Lowe> Thomas Fawdington,
and John Roberton. Connected with the institution was
a large medical committee, and a still laiger ladies'
committee, the former consistmg of the medical officers
already named, and in addition Dr. Freckleton, Messrs.
Hudson, Radford, Kinder Wood, Oilier, Ainsworth,
Ransome, Brigham, Barton, Jordan, Dudley, Bamber, and
Turner. Of these medical men all have passed away
except Dr. Radford, who at an advanced age, is still an
active member of the medical staff of the same hospital,
under an altered name and under altered circumstances.
The ladies* committee consisted of Mesdames Agnew,
Boutflower, Bower, Barton, T. Brooks, Samuel Brooks,
Elsdale, Hoyle, Hall, Henson, Lomas, Marris, Marsden,
Nunn, King, Place, Roylance, T. Rothwell, Tate,
T. Townsend, Tweddell, Wadkin, and Misses Ainsworth
and Hadfield.
There are few charitable institutions of which Manchester
may be prouder than of its Eye Institution, now located
in such capital and convenient premises in St John's Street.
It may be fairly said to be at the head of all similar
provincial institutions. Fifty years ago its domicile was
of a more humble character. It was first established in
1815, and occupied premises at No, 35, Faulkner Street
In 1829 Mr. Nicholas Thomason was the secretary and col-
lector, and became the governor of the institution, which had
been removed to Princess Street Its president for many
years was Sir Thomas Stanley, Bart (his son becoming
Lord Stanley of Alderley), and amongst its vice-presidents
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252 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
were William (kant and John Lea£ Its committee con-
sisted of Thomas Norris, J. Chippendale, Adam Dugdale,
Daniel Grant, W. J. Wilson, Daniel Lynch, J. Brackenbury,
George Grundy, John OUivant, William Hutchinson, and
the Revs. Moses Randall and R. Basnett Dr. Hull was
the consulting physician. Messrs. Samuel Barton and
John Windsor were the surgeons, and Messrs. R. T. Hunt
and J. E. Gordon assistant surgeons.
The Lock Hospital was opened in 1819. Fifty years
ago it was located in Bond Street; its president was
Mr. David Holt, and its medical officers were Dr. Hull,
and Messrs. Jordan and Brigham. The house surgeon was
Mr. Lewis Henry Nathan.
In addition to these medical charities there were also
Dispensaries for Salford and Pendleton at 23, Broken
Bank; for Chorlton Row (now Chorlton-upon-Medlock)
at 236, Oxford Road; and for Ardwick and Ancoats at
181, Great Ancoats Street The president of the Salford
Dispensary was Mr. William Gamett of Lark Hill
(situated in what is now Peel Park), who so often
unsuccessftilly opposed Joseph Brotherton as a candidate
for parliamentary honours. The medical staif included
Messrs. Thomas Brownbill, George Gardom, John Bout-
flower, and Dr. Harland ; Mr. Boutflower being still
engaged in practice, and Dr. Harland also surviving.
The president of the Ancoats Dispensary was Mr. George
Murray, the cotton spmner, of Ancoats Hall ; and amongst
its medical officers were included Dr. James Phillips Kay,
whose house was then in King Street; Messrs. Thomas
Turner, Joseph A. Ransome, and Ashton M. Heath.
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BIBLE SOCIETY.
253
The Febiale Penitentiary was then situated in
Rusholme Road, next to Buck's livery stables, Mr. Edward
lioyd, the barrister, of King Street, being its treasurer.
The same plan existed then as now of having two
secretaries, one a minister of the Established Church and the
other a minister of a nonconforming church, the secretaries
fifty years ago being the Rev. William Marsden and the
Rev. John Birt The matron was Mrs. Elizabeth Price,
who was shortly succeeded by Mrs. Lydia Colebeck.
The Manchester Auxiliary of the British and
Foreign Bible Society was established in 1810, its
depository fifty years ago being in Kling Street, in a house
next to the Town Hall, at the lower end, which also
contained the offices of Higson, Bagshaw, and Higson, and
of Edward Bent, solicitors. Its patron was the Bishop of
Chester, and its president Sir Oswald Mosley. Amongst
the vice-presidents were the Rev. John Clowes, of the
CoU^iate Church ; the Rev. John Clowes, of St John's
Church \ the Rev. Melville Home, Messrs. William
Townend and James Wood. The treasurer was Mr. William
Fox. The life governors were John Burton, Peter
Marsland, Jonathan Peel, Joseph Smith, and Samuel
Stocks ; and the governors Samuel Fletcher and E. Norris.
Amongst the committee were the Revs. Wm. Huntingdon,
William Nunn, Hugh Stowell, J. A. Coombs, R. S. M'All;
Messrs. Benjamin Braidley, George Hadfield, and Thomas
Harbottle. The honorary secretaries were the Revs. John
Hollist and William Roby. At that time the society did
not employ any paid secretary or agent The annual
meeting of the society in 1829 was held in the Manor
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254 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Court Room, Brown Street, Sir Oswald Mosley, the lord
of the manor and president of the society, being in the
chair. The Rev. Andrew Brandram, one of the general
secretaries, attended as a deputation from the parent
society, the other speakers being the Revs. William Lord
(Wesleyan), John Birt, W. Thistlethwaite, G. S. Bull of
Bierley, A. Hepworth (St Luke's, Chorlton Row),
J. A. Coombs, and R. S. M'All ; Messrs. J. S. Bramall,
Samuel Fletcher, and John Burton, calico-printer (of
Daniel Biuton and Sons). The report stated that the
parent institution, during its twenty-four years' existence,
had expended more than a million and a half of money,
had distributed upwards of five millions and a half copies
of the Bible and Testament in not less than a hundred and
five different languages and dialects, in fifty-eight of which
the Bible had never been before printed, and that thirty-
eight new translations were then in progress. The number
of donors and subscribers in 1828 was 193, whose bene-
fiEictions and subscriptions amounted to ^324. Amongst
the subscribers are foimd the names of Miss Byrom, of
Quay Street; Messrs. Benjamin Braidley; Samuel Brooks,
the banker, Market Street; Isaac Crewdson; J. and T.
Fildes, Shudehill; Samuel Fletcher; G. R. Chappell;
George Hadfield, solicitor; J. H. Heron; Dr. Hull;
Benjamin Joule, the brewer; Dr. Lignum (so<alled,
proprietor of the "Antiscorbutic Drops"); J. M*Clure and
J. M'Clure jun.; Mottershead and Brown, druggists;
W. Newall, grocer, owner of Newall's Buildings; John
Ollivant, silversmith. Exchange Street; Michael Peacock,
Deansgate; Thomas and Richard Potter (father and uncle
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CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY. 255
of the late Sir John Potter and Mr. T. B. Potter, M.P.);
Charles Rider, Collyhurst Hall] Samuel Prince, grocer,
Market Street ; R. Scarr, St Ann's Square \ E. Thompson^
bookseller, Market Street; J. Wadkin, Pendleton; Wood
and Westhead, High Street; the Revs. W. Nunn; J. A.
Coombs; J. Clowes, fellow of the Collegiate Church;
J. Clowes, SL John's; William Roby, Hugh Stowell, and
Melville Home. The latter gentleman, who, as I have
said, was one of the vice-presidents of the Bible Society,
was a popular preacher and was the immediate predecessor
of the Rev. Hugh Stowell at St Stephen's, Salford. He
was the author of some controversial tracts as to the
circulation of the Douay version of the Bible by the Bible
Society. He died at Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, in 1841,
in the eightieth year of his age.
Thb Manchester Branch of the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge was instituted in 18 14, and fifty
years ago had its quarters at the depository of the Bible
Society in King Street It was not without its friends. Its
patrons were the (present) Earl of Wilton, the Bishop of
Chester, and Lord Kenyon. Its president was the
Rev. Dr. Calvert, warden of the Collegiate' Church ; its
treasurer was Mr. Thomas Hardman; and its secretaries
were the Rev. Henry Fielding, chaplain to the House of
Correction, and afterwards clerk in orders at the Old
Church; the Rev. Peter Hordem, librarian of the Chetham
College; and Mr. Charles Smith, of Cheetwood. The
RsuGious Tract Socieey was established here in 181 2,
and the Wesleyan Tract Society in 1823.
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256 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
The Humane Society was originally established in
1 791, under the patronage of and mainly through the
public-spirited exertions of Mr. Thomas Butterworth Bayley,
once chairman of the quarter sessions. In the same year
the Strangers' Friend Society was established under the
auspices and by the aid of the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke, who
was at that time stationed in Manchester. Although it was
principally supported by Wesleyan Methodists, it was
eminently catholic in its operations, inasmuch as its benefits
were extended to persons of every other denomination, or
of no denomination, who were relieved according to no
Other standard than the measure of their distress and
the capability of its funds. The Samarttan Souety,
established in 1824, was an institution of a similar nature,
whose meetings were held weekly, on the Friday evening, in
the vestry of Gravel Lane Chapel. The Philanthropic
Society, established in 181 t, was another benevolent
institution, which fifty years ago used to hold its meetings
at Hayward's Hotel, in Bridge Street, having for its
secretary Mr. Robert Walmsley, of Red Bank. It shortly
after changed its quarters to the Dog and Partridge, Ducie
Place, when Mr. Daniel Grant became its president, and
Mr. Edward Loyd, the banker, its treasurer. The Society
FOR THE Encouragement .of Faithful Female Ser-
vants was founded in 18 16, as a free registry ofSce. Its
object was to reward those servants of subscribers who had
lived for a certain time in their service with annual
premiums. Its ofSce fifty years ago was in Chapel Walks,
having been removed there from Kling Street, and its
conductress was Mrs. Mary Owen.
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GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 257
The Commercial Clerks' Society was established*
in 1802, and was a provident institution, established for
the benefit of tradesmen and clerks, who by the payment
of an entrance fee of from three to five guineas, according
to age, and an annual payment of one guinea, with the aid
of honorary contributions, made provision for sickness and
old age, as well as for their wives and children.
In enumerating the charitable institutions of Manchester
which existed fifty years ago, the free public schools
ought not to be omitted. At the head of these was the
Free Grammar School in Long Millgate. Of this the
Rev. Jeremiah Smith, D.D., was high master; the
Rev. Nicholas Germon, high master's assistant; the
Rev. Robinson Elsdale, second master; the Rev. John
Johnson, second master's assistant; and the Rev. John
Dallas, master of the lower school Of the Blue Coat
School, Mr. George Crossley was governor ; the Rev. Peter
Hordem, curate of St Mark's, Cheetham Hill, librarian;
Mr. William MuUis, assistant librarian; and the Rev.
W. Bootle Guest, master of the school The Ladies' Jubilee
School in New Bridge Street, Strangeways, had its origin
in 1806, in the benevolence of several ladies. In 1809 a
house was procured in Broughton Lane, which contained
ten girls ; and in 1810 a building was erected on a plot of
land given by Lord Ducie in New Bridge Street, by public
subscription, in commemoration of the fiftieth year of
George the Third's reigiL The new building was capable
of accommodating thirty-two girls, which was the number
in the house fifty years ago. In 1832 a splendid legacy of
nearly ;^ii,ooo from the late Mrs. Frances Hall enabled ^
s
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258 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
the committee to enlarge the building so as to accommo-
date forty girls. At the time I speak of the matron of the
school was Mrs. Ann Alcock. At a suitable age the girls
are put out as domestic servants, the applications for them
far exceeding the supply. The Collegiate Church
Charity School was also for girls only, and was situated
in Fennel Street It contained sixty girls, the mistress
being Miss Mary Beard. The Manchester School for
THE Deaf and Dumb was opened in February, 1825,
and fifty years ago was situated in Stanley Street, Salford,
near the Lying-in Hospital Its superintendent was
Mr. William Vaughan, and its honorary Secretary
Mr. William Bateman ; Dr. Davenport Hulme, and
Mr. Thomas Turner, being its medical officers. It then
contained fourteen inmates.
The National Schools on Dr. Bell's system were two,
one in Salford, founded in 181 2, and one in Granby Row,
opened in 1813. The Granby Row School contained
440 scholars, Mr. William Johnson being master, and his
wife mistress. I remember Mr. Johnson very well He
was a good-looking man, gentlemanly in his manners,
and was a member of the Oddfellows' Society. The
Lancasterian School was in Marshall Street, Oldham
Road, and had 1,000 scholars, with Mr. John Perkins,
superintendent, and Mrs. Hannah Brown, mistress. There
were three Infants' Schools — one in Buxton Street, London
Road, with John Halliwell, master; one in King Street,
Salford, Thomas Merry being master ; and one in Saville
Street, Chorlton Row, with James Bartley, master.
There were also the New Jerusalem Free Day School in
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FREE SCHOOLS. 259
Irwell Street, Joseph Moss, master; St Mark's Charity,
Cheetham Hill, with forty scholars, and John Lee, master ;
Sl Mary's Charity, 64, Water Street, for girls, having fifty
scholars, Elizabeth Tudor, mistress; St John's Charity,
Gartside Street, for girls, Mary Harrison, mistress; St Paul's
Charity, Turner Street; Friends* Female Sewing School,
for girls, Hannah Campion, mistress ; Catholic Free School,
13, Lloyd Street, Patrick J. MiuT)hy, master, and Susannah
Fox, mistress ; and, lastly, the Unitarian Free School, Back
Mosley Street, the Rev. Edward Hawks, master. The
Workhouse School, in Strangeways, contained about fifty
scholars. In all these schools a gratuitous education was
given fifty years ago, and show the efforts made in that day
to educate the poor.
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26o MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER XXIII.
LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND OTHER SOCIETIES.
XT O provincial society of the same nature has acquired
a fame so extensive and well-deserved as the
Manchester Literary and Philosophical, or which
has reflected so much credit on the place of its birth. It
was originated in 1781, and has always been ^unous on
account of its interesting memoirs, which have been trans-
lated into the French and German languages. Amongst
the deceased contributors to these have been Dr. Watson,
Bishop of Uandaff; Dr. Thomas Percival; Mr. Charles
White, the eminent physician and surgeon of Manchester;
the Rev. Dr. Barnes; Mr. Thomas Henry, F.R.S.;
Dr. John Ferrier; the Rev. Gilbert Wakefield; Dr. James
Currie; Mr. John Gough; and Dr. Dalton, F.RS.
Previous to the winter of 1781 the Society had for some
time existed as an occasional assemblage at private houses ;
but in the winter of that year it became organized as a
public body. Its first promoters were Dr. Thomas Percival,
Mr. Thomas Henry, and Mr. Charles White. Dr. Percival
became its first joint-president in conjunction with
Mr. James Massey, who, it will be remembered, was so
instrumental in establishing the Infirmary. On the death
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LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 26 1
of Mr. Massey, Dr. Percival became sole president He
was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society before he was
twenty years of age, being, it is said, the youngest member
ever introduced into that learned corporation. He assisted
in establishing " The Manchester Academy for the Educa-
tion of Protestant Dissenting Mmisters," afterwards known
as the Manchester College. The building erected for
the Academy was at the lower end of Mosley Street,
that part being then called Dawson Street, standing back
from the street and leaving a flagged space fenced with
iron palisadings, and was in existence fifly years ago.
Mr. Charles White, the eminent surgeon, was one of the
first vice-presidents of the Society, and remained such
several years. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal
Society in 1761, and, as before stated, it was to his
exertions, associated with those of Mr. Massey, that the
establishment of the Infirmary is due. He was bom in
Manchester, and continued to practice till he was eighty-
four years of age. He died in 1813, shortly after he had
ceased to practice. Mr. Thomas Henry, who also assisted
in founding the Society, becoming one of its first joint-
secretaries, was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and became
a very eminent chemist He was apprenticed to a surgeon-
apothecary at Wrexham. After filling the situation of
assistant to Mr. Malbon, a visiting apothecary at Oxford,
he settled at Knutsford, at which place he remained
five years, and then removed to Manchester, where he
succeeded to the business of a respectable apothecary in
King Street He died in 181 6, aged eighty-two, and as
late as 181 5 his name appears in the directory as an
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262 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
apothecary at 40, King Street He was the originator
of that popular medicine known as Henry's Calcined
Magnesia. In 1771 he communicated to the Royal
College of Physicians of London an improved method
of preparing magnesia, which was published in their
Transactions. When he presented this communication
nothing could have been further from his thoughts than
engaging in the preparation of the article. When the
measure was urged upon him by friends, he did not
relinquish hi$ scruples imtil he had been assured by such
men as Sir John Pringle, Sir Clifton Wintringham, and
Dr. Warren that as to the college they saw no objection,
and that for the public advantage and his own it was
highly desirable. The article was then manufactured in
East Street, Bale Street, and is so stilL
Fifty years ago the president of the Society was John
Dalton, F.R.S. (not then doctor), and the vice-presidents
were Dr. Edward Holme, F.R.S.; Dr. William Henry, F.R.S.,
son of Thomas Henry; Peter Ewart, cotton spinner, of
East Street; and George William Wood, afterwards M.P.
The treasurer was Benjamin Heywood, the banker; the
secretaries, Peter Clare and the Rev. John James Tayler,
minister of Mosley Street Unitarian Chapel; and the
librarian John Davies. Dalton became a member of the
Literary and Philosophical Society in 1794. The first
paper which he read before the Society after joining it
related to that disease of the eyes from which he suffered,
known as colour-blindness. The paper was entitled
*^ Extraordinary Facts relating to the Vision of Colours,
with observations, by Mr. John Dalton," and was read on
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DOCTOR D ALTON, 263
the 31st of October, 1794. Dalton originally was a teacher
of mathematics at Kendal, and was induced to remove to
Manchester to accept the office of Professor of Mathematics
and Natural Philosophy at the New College, Mosley Street
He resided within the college for about six years, till it was
removed to York. On withdrawing from it he began to
teach mathematics and natural philosophy privately at his
residence in Faulkner Street, but shortly after removed to
the house of John Cockbain, a member of the Society of
Friends, having the use of the lower rooms in the building
of the Society in George Street for the purpose of study and
instruction. After living some time with Cockbain, Dalton
went to live with the Rev. William Johns, immediately
opposite his rooms. Johns had a good boys' school, and it
was here that Dalton was living fifty years ago. A few
years afterwards the whole line of private houses of which
Johns' was one was sold for warehouse purposes, when
Dalton, being ejected, took a house in Faulkner Street for
his undivided occupancy. He was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society in 1822, and received the Oxford degree of
Doctor of Civil Law in 1833. He died on the 27th
of July, 1844, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. Who
will say that his longevity was not due, at least in some
degree, to the very wise practice, which he religiously
observed, of on one afternoon in every week, laying aside
all mental toil and indulging in physical recreation? A
choice party of friends met every Thursday afternoon at
Tattersall's bowling green on the way to Stretford, amongst
whom none enjoyed a game at bowls better than the
worthy Doctor.
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264 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Amongst the deceased contributors of papers to the
Literary and Phflosophical Society was Mr. John Gough.
He resided at Kendal, and was a most intimate fnend of
Dalton's. After his death, the Doctor said of him that
"he might justly be deemed a prodigy in scientific attain-
ments. Deprived of sight in infancy by smallpox, he lived
to an advanced age under one of the greatest misfortimes
which can fall to the lot of man. By the liberality of his
father he received a good classical and mathematical
education. He excelled in astronomy, optics, pneumatics,
chemistry, natural history in general, and botany in par-
ticular. Mr. Gough was as much gratified with imparting
his stores of knowledge as I was in receiving them. My
use to him was chiefly in reading, writing, and making
calculations and diagrams, and in participating with him
in the pleasure resulting from successful investigations.
But as Mr. Gough was above receiving any pecuniary
recompense, the balance of advantage was greatly in my
favour." Dr. Dalton's most intimate friend, in the latter
period of his life, was Peter Clare, the senior secretary of
the Society, of whom mention has been made in a previous
chapter.
Dr. Edward Holme, the senior vice-president, was an
eminent physician residing at the higher end of King Street;
he, Mr. Thomas Radford, Mr. Thomas Turner, and
Mr. James Ainsworth, surgeons, living not far from each
other, in that street fifty years ago. Dr. Holme was
elected a member of the Literary and Philosophical Society
on the same evening on which Dalton was, viz., on the
2Sth of April, 1794.
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DR. WILUAM HENRY. 265
Dr. William Heniy, who fifty years ago was another vice-
president of the Society, as before stated, was the son of
Thomas Henry, already mentioned. He lived to become
eminent as a chemist, and when a comparatively young
man delivered several courses of lectures on Chemistry in
Manchester. These lectures were illustrated by very
expensive apparatus, and contained experiments of a highly-
interesting character. When coal gas was applied to the
purpose of illumination, he was one of the first to deter-
mine its constitution, to point out the best mode of analysis,
and to suggest the most effective methods of obviating the
inconveniences to which, in its early application, it was
liable. In 1835 Lord Brougham came down from London
to give an address at the old Mechanics' Institution in
Cooper Street, to which only members of the institution
were admitted. I well remember paying five shillings as
a quarter's subscription, so that I might hear him. On that
occasion, speaking of Dr. Henry, his lordship said : '^ I met
an old and worthy friend of mine, a man of great ability and
learning, your townsman, Dr. Henry. We were fellow-
coUegians, and learned chemisty together — though, God
wot, he learned a great deal more than I did."
Mr. John Davies, who was the librarian of the institution
fifty years ago, I well remember as a plain, unassuming,
though intelligent-looking man, well versed in the scientific
discoveries of the age. He delivered a lecture at the
Mechanics' Institution, which was afterwards published in
pamphlet form, and which contained a review of the
principal scientific discoveries of that day.
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266 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
The Natural History Society fifty years ago had its
rooms at the top of King Street, near to Mr. Thomas
Turner's and Mr. James Ainsworth's, the surgeons, the
rooms being kept by Mrs. Susan Steemson. It was
established in 1821, and in 1829 possessed a museum of
considerable value and variety. Its patrons then were the
Earl of Wilton and Sir Oswald Mosley ; the president was
Dr. Holme, before mentioned; and its vice-presidents
Dr. Henry, Mr. John Moore, and Messrs. Ransome and
Ainsworth, surgeons ; the secretaries were Messrs. Thomas
Turner and Peter Barrow, surgeons; the treasurers,
Edward Lloyd and Thomas Fleming; and the curators,
Robert Hindley, John Beever, John Owen, and the
Rev. R. H. Whitelock. The museum was removed to
Peter Street in 1835.
The Botanical and Horticultural Society was
established in 1827, and the gardens were opened in 1831.
Previously, its exhibitions were held at the Town Hall, and
its secretaries were John Milner Marris, of Marris, Son,
and Jacksons, Cannon Street; and James Benson, cloth
merchant, Brown Street When the gardens were opened,
the first officers of the Society were as follows : — Patrons,
the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, the Earl of Wilton,
Lord Suffield, and T. J. Trafford ; president. Sir Oswald
Mosley ; treasurer, Richard Potter, afterwards M.P. ;
honorary secretary, the Rev. P. Hordem, librarian of the
Blue Coat School; acting secretary, Mr. John Holt
Stanway, accountant, of Marsden Street; and curator,
William Mowbray. The council-room of the Society was
then at 9, Marsden Street
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UNICORN INN. 267
A Floral and Horticultural Society had been
recently established, and was in a flourishing condition fifly
years ago. There was also an Agricultural Society,
which was one of the earliest institutions of the kind
established in England, having been founded in 1767. It
comprehended an area of thirty miles round Manchester,
and at that time held its meetings at the Royal Hotel
The Society for the Prosecution of Felons and
Recefvers of Stolen Goods was also in active operation
fifty years ago, its trustees being Oswald Milne, the
solicitor; James Hall, dyer, of Ordsall; and Thomas
Hoyle, calico printer. Its president was William Woolley,
and its vice-president George Whyatt, dyer, of Openshaw.
The committee met on the first Monday in the months of
March, June, September, and December, from seven to
nine p.m., and consisted of the president and vice-president,
James Hall, jun., Sunnyside; John Worrall, Ordsall;
William Harrison, Old Quay ; John Barge, calico printer,
Broughton ; and Charles Bradbury, calenderer, St. Mary's.
The committee met at the Unicom Inn, which was then
kept by Joseph Challender. This was the building which
by its projection caused the entrance to Smithy Door firom
the Market Place to be so narrow and dangerous. It was
here, too, that the once celebrated John Shaw's Club was
held, which has been referred to previously. Shaw
occupied the house, it is said, upwards of fifty-eight years,
and died in 1796 at the age of eighty-three. He was an
eccentric man, and used to turn out all his customers at
eight o'clock every evening, occasionally using the whip, it
is said, if any were obstinate, though the hint was generally
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268 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
sufficient There used to be a portrait of him in oil at the
Thatched House Tavern, which I have seen many years
ago, and which is now, I understand, at the Mitre Hotel,
Cathedral Yard
The Pine Street School of Medicine and Surgery
was in a flourishing condition fifly years ago. It was
founded by the late Mr. Thomas Tiuner. Mr. Jordan had
begun a course of lectures on Anatomy in 1814, and in
1822 Mr. Turner began to lecture on the same subject in
the rooms of the Literary and Philosophical Society. In
1824 Mr. Turner attempted to combine the exertions of
individual teachers in one complete system of medical
instruction, and in the following year the Pine Street
School was fully organized, when he delivered there a
course of lectures on Anatomy. The other lecturers were
Dr. James L. Bardsley, on the Principles and Practice of
Physic and Materia Medica ; Mr. Ransome, *on Surgery ;
Dr. Dalton, on Chemistry; Mr. Kinder Wood, on Mid-
wifery; and Mr. Thomson, on Botany. Fifty years ago
Mr. Turner had retired from his position as lecturer on
Anatomy, which was jointly filled by Mr. Guest and
Mr. Ransome. About the same time a second School of
Medicine was started in Mount Street by Mr. Jordan, who
obtained the co-operation of several of his professional
friends, he continuing his lectures on Anatomy, whilst
Dr. Freckleton lectured on the Practice of Medicine and
Materia Medica; Mr. John Davies, the librarian of the
Literary and Philosophical Society, on * Chemistry ;
Mr. Radford (still living and active), on Midwifery;
Mr. Fawdington and Mr. Boutflower (the latter also still in
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ROYAL INSTITUTION. 269
practice), on Surgery; and Mr. Blundstone giving Ana-
tomical Demonstrations.
It is just about fifty years since the Royal Manchester
Institution was opened. Its first secretary was Mr. Geo.
F. Bury, a solicitor, son of Mr. John Bury, timber merchant,
of Salford, who was one of the mainsprings of its original
organisatioa The Institution was deprived of his services
by a shocking and fisital coach accident, a few years
afterwards. The original aim of the promoters was a very
modest one, their first intention being to purchase premises
in King Street and re-model them. The premises fixed
upon were those occupied by Mr. William Howe, a well-
known auctioneer and wine merchant, near Four Yards,
and which nearly fifty years ago were occupied by Mr. John
Morris, the auctioneer. It was intended to form a junction
between this institution and the Natural History Society,
and a public meeting was held in the Exchange Dining-
room, at which a resolution was passed expressing ^'a hope
that arrangements in every respect satisfactory may be
made for the accommodation of its valuable collections in
the apartments of the house purchased for the Institution,
and that the two societies may ever be distinguished by a
cordial and zealous co-operation for the furtherance of their
common object" A numerous and influential committee
was appointed by the meeting, amongst whom were
Sir Oswald Mosley, Dr. J. D. Hulme, Dr. Edward Holme,
Dr. William Henry, Messrs. E. J. Lloyd, the barrister,
Robert Hindley, George W. Wood, William Gamett,
David Holt, H. H. Birley, R. H. Greg, J. A. Ransome,
W. Townend, Jonathan Dawson, Francis Phillips, James
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27b MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Beardoe, and Robert Christie. Such was the success of
the meeting that the sober views of the projectors were
overturned. There was some difference of opinion at first,
but the tide of popular feeling set in so strongly that it was
resolved to build a hall in Mosley Street, which was
commenced in 1825. Four architectural plans were
produced, from which the Council selected the model of an
erection by Mr. Barry, of London, which was to cost from
;^i8,ooo to ;^20,ooo. At the close of 1831 the total cost
of land and buildings amounted to ;^26,o7o. About
;^32,ooo had been received, which left a balance of nearly
;^6,ooo for the purchase of works of art
Fifty years ago the Mechanics* Institution, which was
erected in 1824, stood at the lower end of Cooper Street,
and cost ;^7,ooo. The building is still standing, and it is
said was the first erected for the purpose in England In
1829 the Secretary was Mr. Thomas Hopkins, who was
succeeded by Mr. S. E. Cottam, and the librarian
Mr. Abraham Bennett, who was succeeded by Mr. William
Turner. I well remember Mr. Day, a succeeding secretary,
under whose able and energetic management the institution
greatly prospered. The very interesting and popular
exhibitions which used to be held for many weeks at
Christmas, every year, are worthy of being remembered.
Lord Brougham's visit to the institution, for which purpose
he made a special journey from London, has been
mentioned previously.
Owing to some dissatisfaction which arose as to the
management of the first institution, in 1829 a rival, styled
the New Mechanics* Institution, was started in Brazenose
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THE CONCERT ROOM. 2 7 1
Street, and was afterwards removed to Pool Street, Lloyd
Street Its president was Mr. Detrosier, its treasurer
Mr. Thomas Potter, its secretaries Messrs. Keighley and
Bond, and its librarian Mr. John Taylor Christie. It was
at first in contemplation to erect a large hall for the pur-
pose, but although the plan was advocated by Mr. Joseph
Hiune, M.P., who presided at a public dinner for its pro-
motion, it was not sufficiently supported to succeed, and
was abandoned. The Athen^um was not built till 1835.
The present Concert Hall at that time was in course
of erection, the first concert given in it being in 1831. The
old Concert Room as before intimated, was in Fountain
Street, a little lower than York Street The first stone was
laid by Mr. Edward Greaves, of Culcheth, on the 24th of
August, 1775. A so-called musical festival was held in the
room on the 21st of September, 1785. In a description ol
Manchester written one hundred years ago it is stated that
'Uhe Concert Room is esteemed to be one of the best in
England, for the convenient disposition of the seats, the
elegance of its lustres, and organ. The retiring room and
backstairs for the performers, the judicious elevation of the
orchestra to produce the happiest effect which music so
powerfully commands, and the genteel company at the
concerts on public nights, are undeniable proofs that this
species of entertainment was planned with judgment, and
is conducted with the utmost decency, prudence, and
integrity."
The Assembly Rooms were in a plain brick building at
the comer of Charlotte Street and Mosley Street, opposite
to Dr. M*All's chapel, and were opened in 1792, To
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272 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
their use at the last Manchester festival reference will be
made in a future chapter.
The Exchange of fifty years ago was a very different
kmd of building from the large and handsome erection
which now adorns the lower end of Market Street. It had
been enlarged three or four times, and at the time we speak
of was comparatively very small It had its well-known
semi-circular front, the enlargement having always been
effected at the back, in the direction of St. Ann's Square.
It was then as built originally, and had never been enlarged.
Its first stone was laid in 1806 by Mr. George Phillips, a
member of the firm of Thomas Phillips and Co., merchants,
of Bridge Street, whose house was at Sedgley. It was
erected with a capital of ;^3 2,000, derived fi"om four
hundred shares of ;^8o each. Previously the Exchange
used to stand at the other side of the Market Place, and
was built in 1729 at the expense of Sir Oswald Mosley.
Its front was ornamented by four columns surmounted by
a pinnacle, a representation of which is given in Casson
and Berry's well-known map of Manchester. The lower
part of the first Exchange was intended for the merchants
and chapmen to transact their business in, but it is said
they generally preferred the Market Place in front of it for
that purpose, and that butchers' stalls were occasionally set
up in the Exchange on market days. The upper storey was
intended for a sessions room and manor court, and was
sometimes used for concerts and public exhibitions.
The Chamber of Commerce fifty years ago was in
Exchange Buildings, in Crow Alley, behind the Exchange,
at which time Mr. George William Wood was its president.
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PUBUC LIBRARIES.
273
and Mr. George Evans Aubrey, secretary. It was first
established in 1820.
Of Public Libraries in Manchester in 1829 there were
seven. The next in importance to the one connected with
Chetham College was ' the Portico. This building was
b^un in 1802 and opened in 1806, and cost ;f 7,000,
which was taken up in four hundred shares. The chairman
of the committee was then Dr. Edward Holme; the
treasurer, Mr. Frederick Maude; the secretary and librarian,
the Rev. William Whitelegg, minister of the Unitarian
. Chapel, Piatt ; and the assistant librarian, Mr. Simon
Williamson. The oldest library after the College one, is
the Manchester Circulating Library, having for its librarian
at the time of which we speak a lady, in the person of
Mrs. Blinkhom. It was opened in 1765 in Exchange
Buildings, and was afterwards removed into a room in the
Exchange, for which the committee fifty years ago only paid
a rental of £z^' '^^^ i^^^^ ^ importance was the New
Circulating Library, which was opened in 1792, and at one
time was located in Pool Fold, but in 1829 was in Fountain
Street, when John Tonge was its librarian. Another library
was afterwards opened which was known fifty years ago as
the New Library, then situated in St Ann's Street, and had
for its librarian William Barrow. Besides these there were
the library of the Mechanics' Institution and the Law
Library, situated in Marsden Street, the secretary of which
was Mr. James Chapman, the first coroner of Manchester.
Markets. — Fifty years ago there was no Cross Lane
Cattle Market, but that market was then held on Wednesday,
in Smithfield, ShudehiU, which on other days was occupied
T
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2 74 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
by tnulers in a variety of commodities. Of course the area
thus occupied was nothing like so large as now. From
5,000 to 10,000 head of cattle were weekly sold there.
The principal places for the sale of garden produce besides
Smithfield were the markets in Smithy Door and the Market
Place. There were several butchers' shambles in the town,
the principal one being at the comer of Bridge Street and
Deansgate, adjoining which was a small market for fruits
and flowers. Another was under the Manor Court Room,
on the present site of the Post Office in Brown Street A
third was in London Road, which was opened in 1824,
The Butter Market, which had been held in Smithy Door,
was removed to the Brown Street market The Fish
Market, which has been lately pulled down to make way
for a more convenient structure, was erected fifty years ago,
having been built on the site of some butchers' shambles.
The Hay Market was then held in Great Bridgewater
Street, and had been removed from Market Street in 1804,
and the Potato Market was held at Smithfield. The
present Com Exchange in Hanging Ditch was not then
erected, but the Com Market was held in a court yard
connected with the Spread Eagle Inn, which is opposite the
present Com Exchange. This hostelry is one of the oldest
in the town, and in 1745 was used by the Duke of Perth
and many of the officers of the prince's army. When the inn
was partly rebuilt in 1838, a signet ring and other old
valuables were found Bamford in his '^ Life of a Radical,"
narrates that at the time of the Peterloo riot, Himt stayed
there, and was grossly insulted by some commercial
travellers who were in the house.
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THE LORD OF THE MANOR.
275
The market tolls were at that time the property of
Sir Oswald Mosley, the lord of the manor. The manor of
Manchester had remained in the Mosley family more than
230 years, having been originally purchased from John Lacye
mercer, of London, in 1596, for ;^3,Soo, by Sir Nicholas
Mosley. After being Sheriff and Lord Mayor of London,
he came to reside in this neighbourhood, building the old
hall known as Hough End (generally pronounced Ouse
end), near Chorlton-cum-Hardy, still in a fine state of
preservation, and occupied by Mr. Lomax as a farmhouse.
In 1808 a negotiation was set on foot by a town's meeting
for the purchase of the manor. For this property and its
privileges Sir Oswald asked ;^9o,ooo, and the deputation
appointed to treat with him offered him ;^ 70,000. The
difference was adjusted, but unfortunately another town's
meeting undid all that had been done, and the negotiation
came to nothing. In 1845 the Town Council were glad to
become the purchasers for;^2oo,ooo.
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2 76 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
CHAPTER XXIV.
NEWSPAPERS.
TN few things is there a greater contrast between the
Manchester of fifty years ago and that of to-day than
in relation to the Press. Then, no daily paper was pushed
under the door before we were downstairs in a morning,
containing not only an account of what has occurred in
Manchester, but the news of the world of the preceding
day, spread out before us with amazing exactness. The
London morning papers contained an account of the
debates in Parliament of the previous evening as now, but
did not arrive here till the following morning. So that, for
instance, the debates of Monday night were not read in
Manchester till Wednesday. An attempt was made by
Mr. Charles Murdo Young, the spirited proprietor of the
Evening Sun^ to improve upon this, but it was to so slight
an extent that it seems to us now to be hardly worth the
trouble he took. He gave in his evening edition an
account of what took place in Parliament down to half-past
five o'clock, by having relays of boys on horseback who,
every quarter of an hour or less, carried a report of the
debates from the House to the Sun office; and in this way
they were printed and despatched by the mails going north
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MANCHESTER NEWSPAPERS.
277
at six o'clock. But in those days, though the hour of the
meeting of Parliament has not been changed, the debates
began earlier, inasmuch as so much valuable time was not
taken up at the commencement by long, numerous, and
complicated questions being put to the Ministers, as is now
the case. As to foreign news, what the newspapers
contained was generally weeks, if not months, old. There
was then neither telegraph, railway, nor ocean steamship.
The Manchester newspapers, of which there were eight,
were all weekly, six being published on Saturday — viz., the
Chronicle^ the Courier^ the Gazette^ the Guardian^ the
Advertiser, and the Times, whilst the Herald was published
on Thursday by the proprietor of the Courier, and the
Mercury on Tuesday by the proprietors of the Guardian.
Those were the days, as before observed, in which the
Chancellor of the Exchequer used all his ingenuity in
discovering, not how many taxes he could remit, but in
how many ways he could put his hand into the pocket of
the British taxpayer. Hence the newspaper was taxed all
roimd — the paper on which it was printed, the advertise-
ments it contained, and finally the newspaper itself. Every
newspaper had a large red stamp imprinted on it, bearing
the words "duty fourpence;" and as the price of the
newspaper was threepence, the full charge for each Man-
chester one was sevenpence. In 1836 the duty was
reduced to a penny, and the price of the newspaper to
fourpence.
The oldest of the eight newspapers which I have
mentioned was the Manchester Mercury^ which was first
published in 1752, by Joseph Harrop, at the sign of the
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278 MASXHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Printing Press, in the Market Place, opposite the clock
side of the old Exchange. The day of publication was
Tuesday, which does not seem to have been altered,
although the title was slightly altered after the eighth
issue, when it became Harrofs Manchester Mercury and
General Advertiser, It ceased to be published on the 28th
of December, 1830, after an eidstence of seventy-nine
years. In 1764, to encourage the sale of his newspaper,
Mr. Harrop gave in weekly numbers " a new History of
England," which he tells his readers at the close cost him a
hundred guineas. He died in 1804, having when a youth
served his apprenticeship as a letterpress printer with
Mr. Henry Whitworth, who published the first Manchester
newspaper in 1730, entitled Whitworth^ s Manchester Gazette^
which was afterwards changed to the Manchester Magazine^
the price of it being three-halfpence. Its number dated
December 24, 1745, gives a circumstantial account of the
movements of the rebel army under Prince Charles. How
long the paper survived the rebellion is not known, but it
had ceased to exist when Mr. Harrop began the Mercury.
The first number of the Manchester Journal^ printed by
Schofield and Tumbull, made its appearance either in 1752
or 1 754, but was discontinued in two or three years. One or
two other equally fiitile attempts to establish a newspaper
followed.
The first Manchester Chronicle or Andertoris Universal
Advertiser was published by Thomas Anderton, at the
Shakespeare's Head, near the Market Cross, but was short-
lived. Another newspaper entitled Prescotfs Manchester
Journal was printed and published every Saturday by
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EARLY LIBERALS, 279
John Prescott in Old Millgate, the price of which was
twopence, and the first number of which appeared in 1771;
but it, alas ! shared the fate of its predecessor. Hence in
1781 Harrofs Mercury had entire possession of the field,
when Mr. Charles Wheeler recommenced the publica-
tion of the Manchester Chronicle; so that of the eight news-
papers published here fifty years ago, excepting the Mercury^
which ceased to exist in December, 1830, the Chronicle was
the oldest. It continued until the end of 1842, when it
expired, as was said, " after a lingering illness." The truth
was, it was pushed off the stage by its more spirited and
more liberal contemporaries, notwithstanding that it had at
one time the lion's share of advertisements.
Before coming to the establishment of the chief Man-
chester journals, it may be as well to notify a few other
efforts to establish newspapers here. In 1792 political
feeling ran very high in Manchester, when the formation of
a " Church and King Club " led to the establishment of the
"Manchester Constitutional Society" by the leading
Liberals of the day, amongst whom were Thomas, father of
the late C. J. S. Walker, mentioned in a previous chapter,
George Lloyd, James Darbyshire, Thomas Cooper, a
barrister, George Phillips (afterwards Sir George, mentioned
previously as having laid the first stone of the late
Exchange), and Thomas Kershaw. Some of the members
of the new Liberal Society induced Matthew Faulkner, one
of its members, to start a newspaper to advocate their
principles, under the name of the Manchester Herald^ which
had not been published many months before a "Church
and King" mob gathered in the Market Place opposite
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28o MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Faulkner's premises, and attacked the front of the house
and shop with stones and brickbats till the windows were
all smashed in, and the premises otherwise injured. From
thence the mob proceeded to attack the house of
Mr. Thomas Walker in South Parade, mention of which
has already been made. During the continuance of the
riot, the deputy-constable, whose name was Unite, was
present, and actually applauded the mob, saying ''it will do
them good to be frightened a bit," at the same time
clapping some of the most active of the rioters on the back,
and saying '' Good lads; good lads." It is no wonder that
the Herald did not live many months.
During the first twenty-one years of the present century,
nearly twenty attempts to establish newspapers were made
which proved abortive. In 1803 four such attempts were
made. First, the Telegraph by James Edmonds and Co. ;
which was succeeded by the Mercantile Gazette and Liverpool
and Manchester Daily Advertiser, This was the first
attempt to establish a daily paper out of London, and was
originated by Dr. Solomon, a well-known quack doctor, and
the proprietor of a very popular patent medicine known
as the Balm of Gilead. The Balm succeeded but the
paper did not Next followed the Argus, published by
Joseph Aston ; and a theatrical paper named the Townsman^
the editor of which was James Watson, a well-known
character, generally designated Jemmy Watson, and some-
tunes "the Doctor." In 1804 the British Volunteer made
its appearance from the press of Mr. Harrop of the
Mercury office. It was followed by the Maily published on
a Tuesday by Joseph Aston. In 1809 the same publisher
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EARLY NEWSPAPERS. 28 1
brought out the Exchange Herald, the day of its publication
being at first Saturday, which after a time was changed to
Tuesday and then to Thursday. In 18 14 the Manchester
Magazine was published monthly, and continued for three
years ; and in 1817 a predecessor of the present Manchester
Courier was published by Messrs. Cowdroy and Rathbone,
but of opposite politics to the present one. In 181 8,
the Observer was published by Thomas Rogerson, which
changed hands several times, at one time belonging to
James Wroe, the well-known Radical bookseller, and was
discontinued in June, 1821. The Spectator, printed by
Mr. Thomas Wilkinson, the father of the present Mr.
J. F. Wilkinson, of the Guttenberg Works, appeared first
on Saturday, the 7th of November, 18 18, and was succeeded
by the Recorder, the first nimiber of which appeared on
Thursday, the 6th of May, and was printed by John Leigh
in the Market Place, and edited by Joseph Macardy,
who afterwards took so prominent a part in the establishment
of some of the joint-stock banks here. The Patriot, another
of Joseph Aston's papers, was issued first in August, 181 9.
In 1820 the Observer was printed by Mr. Chapman, who
was fined ;^25o for printing a libel on Mr. Thomas Fleming.
In November, 182 1, the Catholic was issued, which was
changed to the Catholic Phoenix in 1822, and was printed
by Joseph Pratt, of Bridge Street In the same year a
second attempt was made to establish a daily newspaper
here — ^the Northern Express and Lancashire Daily Post,
which, though printed in Stockport, was published in
Manchester for Henry Burgess, the first number appearing
on the ist of December. In 1822, the Manchester Iris,
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282 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
was started, being printed and published by Henry Smith,
and was discontinued in 1823. To complete the list of
these short-lived newspapers, the Manchester Advertiser^
which was circulated gratuitously, was printed by Joseph
Pratt, for Stephen Whalley, the first number appearing in
July, 1835 ; and the Voice of the People^ printed by
John Hampson, was begun on the ist of January, 1831, a
few days after the Mercury had ceased to exist
The Manchester and Salford Advertiser was supported by
the licensed victuallers, and was begun in 1828. It was
jointly owned by Mrs. Leresche and Mr. George Condy, the
barrister, who was its editor and was one of the commis-
sioners in bankruptcy. Its office was near to the present
shop of Messrs. Darbjrshire in Market Street, and was then
removed higher up the street, and afterwards formed a
conspicuous object at the comer of that street and Spring
Gardens. Of the Chronicle mention has already been made
as having enjoyed at one time the chief advertising business.
Its founder was Mr. Charles Wheeler, who died in 1827, at
the age of 76, Mr. John Wheeler, his son, having been
taken into partnership with his father as proprietors of the
Chronicle* I well remember Johii, whose face was much
affected by the wind, on which accotmt he used to ride
through the streets on horseback with a veil covering his
face, and won the soubriquet of the " Veiled Prophet" He
was the father of the present Mr. Serjeant Wheeler, the
only remaining link of a pretty numerous progeny of
Manchester literary men connected with the press.
In 1829 the leading newspaper here was the Manchester
Guardiany which was printed and published by Messrs.
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''MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.'' 283
Taylor and Gamett, the office being in Market Street,
not far from the spot afterwards occupied by the Bank of
Manchester, and now occupied by Sharp and Scott, grocers.
The editor was Mr. John Edward Taylor, the senior
proprietor, son of the Rev. John Taylor, a Unitarian
minister, who was bom at Ilminster, in Somersetshire, in
1 791. He was originally intended for the medical
profession, but for some reason this design was frustrated,
and he was placed with a manufacturer in Manchester as
an apprentice. It is said that his services were so highly
valued that his indentures were given to him before his
apprenticeship had terminated. In 1 815 his name appears
in the directory as a fustian manufacturer, and in that for
1820 as a cotton merchant His father, about the year
1800, having joined the Society of Friends, became the
manager of their school, in Jackson's Row. He resided
in Islington Street, Salford, his son during the time he was
in business residing next door to him, afterwards removing
to the Crescent, Salford, where he lived in 1829. He early
manifested a capacity for public business, and when about
nineteen years of age, became^secretary to the Lancasterian
School In following years he took an active part in those
political discussions which then greatly agitated the public
mind, and which paved the way for the beneficial changes
which have taken place during the last fifty years.
Cowdro/s Manchester Gazette was at that time the only
organ of the Liberal party, and to it Mr. John Edward
Taylor contributed freely, furnishing accounts of and com-
ments on the various political transactions then passing.
It is said to be " an ill wind which blows nobody good ;"
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284 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
and but for one of these proverbial ill winds, we might
have been at this day without our daily Guardian, The
£act was that Mr. Taylor became involved in a law suit and
was prosecuted for libel, and it was this circumstance which
principally led to the establishment of the Guardian.
Political feeling, as we have seen, ran high in Manchester
and Salford, when in 18 18 a meeting of Police Commis-
sioners was held in Salford, at which Mr. Taylor's name
was proposed as a commissioner. This was opposed by
Mr. John Greenwood, a counterpane manufacturer, who
used some very strong language, although good Joseph
Brotherton, who was present, counselled moderation.
Mr. Taylor felt that he had been publicly insulted, and
addressed a stinging letter to Mr. Greenwood, which formed
the ground of action. The grand jury at the Salford
Quarter Sessions found a true bill against him. The trial
was removed to the King's Bench, and took place at
Lancaster, on the 29th of March, 1819. Mr. Taylor under-
took his defence in person, conducting it with great ability,
and was allowed to call witnesses in justification of his
statements, it being, it is said, the only instance on record
up to that time of a defendant being allowed to do so.
Baron Wood was the judge, and Scarlett (afterwards
Lord Abinger) the prosecuting counsel ; both treated him
most contemptuously. Joseph Brotherton was his first
witness, and his quietly given evidence seemed to tell on
the jury. The next was Mr. Charles Rickards, fether of
the late chairman of the Board of Guardians, and who lived
in Regent Road Scarlett evidently expected the jury would
return a verdict in accordance with his desires, and this
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MR. JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR. 285
might have been so had it not been that the foreman was a
man made of sterling metal, honest John Rylands, of War-
lington, who was observed, when the jury retired, to take his
top coat up and throw it over his arm with the air of a man
determined not to give way to fear or &vour, but to see the
right done. The jury were locked up, and after waiting a
considerable time the court broke up, and by-and-by the
judge went to bed. Hour, after hour passed, as Taylor's
friends paced the streets near the castle ; then a noise was
heard, and the jury were marshalled to the judge's lodgmgs,
and were conducted to his bedroom, where he sat bolt
upright in bed, and was astonished to receive their verdict
of "Not Guilty."
In the conduct of his defence, Mr. Taylor's friends, who
had accompanied him to Lancaster, were much impressed
with his ability and boldness. In returning, one of them
said to him, "Why don't you begin a newspaper? if you
will, we will help you." It was felt how great a need
there was of a good Liberal paper. Twelve hundred
pounds were subscribed by twelve gentlemen, and in two
years more the Manchester Guardian was established.
Accordingly in due course the following announcement was
made: "On Saturday the sth of May, 1821, will be
published, price sevenpence, No. i of a new weekly paper
to be entitled the Manchester Guardian^ printed and
published by J. Gamett, No. 28A, Market Street, Man-
chester, where orders, advertisements, and communications
will be thankfully received after the 30th of April, and in
the meantime by Mr. Sowler, bookseller, St Ann's Square;
Messrs. Robinson and EUis^ St Ann's Place; and by
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286 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Mr. John Ford, Market Street" In reference to this
announcement it must be borne in mind that Mr. Sowler
had not then started the Courier. The first office of the
Guardian was near the end of New Cannon Street It is
said that Mr. Taylor was the first newspaper proprietor in
Manchester who was capable of acting as editor. He died
in 1844 at the age of fifty-two. It has been truly said of
him that ''he was at all tinges an active and untiring
advocate of the public improvements of the town, many of
which owe their origin entirely to him."
Mr. Jeremiah Gamett originally came to Manchester
from the neighbourhood of Otley with Mr. Thomas Forrest,
who afterwards became a bookseller. They were both
letterpress printers, and Gamett obtained employment in
Mr. Wheeler's printing office, and was firequently employed
in reporting. He reported the Peterloo meeting for the
Chronicle^ and was a witness on the trial of Birley and
others in connection with that afifair. On the establishment
of the Guardian^ Mr. Taylor engaged him to assist in
reporting; and, owing to the valuable aid he was able to
afford in the general management of the paper, and its
improved character, which made it superior to all com-
petitors, he became a partner, and eventually editor. At
first the other Manchester journalists looked on the
innovator with contempt, foretelling its speedy extinction.
Leaders they regarded as a foolish innovation, and thought
correct reports an imnecessary expense. As to advertise-
ments, Mr. Wheeler, who had the main share, refused to
receive any after one o'clock on the Friday; having the
large impression of 3,000 to work off, he must needs go to
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I
THE *' MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.** 287
press at three o'clock; whereas Mr. Gamett received them
with thanks as late on the Friday evening as any one chose
to bring them. The printed matter of a Guardian of fifty
years ago filled a sheet about half the size of the present
Guardian^ that b to say four pages, on each of which the
printed matter measured 23 inches by 18. The size of the
page was afterwards enlarged to 26 inches by 20. The
type was much smaller than at present, and the printing
was neater. The leaders varied much in length, and each
had its title printed at its head in small roman capitals.
The number of advertisements form a striking contrast
with those in to-day's Guardian^ especially when it is
remembered that it came out only once a week. In one of
the numbers for the early part of 1829, selected quite at
haphazard, there were just in advertisements, 85 of which
were on the firont page. Of the total, 13 were "legal
notices," eight *^ sales by private contract," 37 "sales by
auction," 24 "to be let," and 29 others. Two of them are
illustrated, one being a tailor's advertisement, exhibiting a
gentleman in a splendidly-fitting suit
The limits of these papers prevent me firom doing more
than name one who joined the staff of the Guardian at a
later period of its history, and to whose admirable report-
ing, and to his other labours in connection with it, its
success in a great measure is due. I allude to Mr. John
Harland, F.S.A., who was bom at Hull in 1806 and died
here in 1868.
The Manchester Times in 1829 was published by
Archibald Prentice, in the Angel Yard, Market Place, which
has since been completely metamorphosed, and is now
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288 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
known as the Hopwood Avenue. Mr. Prentice was a
hard-headed Scotchman, die son of a Lanarkshire &rmer,
and when a young man came to Manchester as the agent of
a Glasgow firm of muslin manufacturers. In 1819 he was
living in Islington Street, Salford, next door to Mr. John
Edward Taylor, and in 1824 he was still in business, residing
in Faulkner Street He formed one of die earnest, active
band of reformers, who were beginning to make dieir
influence felt Shortly after die date last mentioned he
purchased Cowdrofs Gazette^ which then had a circulation
of from 1,000 to 1,500 a week, paying Cowdro/s widow
^800 down, and engaging to pay her ^100 a year more
for eight years. Towards the end of 1827 Mr. Prentice
was in difficulties, and in January, 1828, he issued a manly
address in which he explained his losses and position. This
brought around him many kind and sympathizing friends,
who formed a joint-stock company and incorporated the
Gazette with a new journal, which was entitled the Man-
chester Times and Gazette. Towards the close of 1828 the
title of Gazette was dropped, and, as I have said, the
Manchester Times was published at Angel Yard by
Mr. Prentice. In a year or two the office was removed to
the left-hand side of Market Street going up, and eventually
to Ducie Place, now covered by the Exchange. Mr. Prentice
was joined after a short time by Mr. William CathraU, who
was for many years reporting agent for the Times^ living in
Lower Byrom Street He was a Wesleyan with whom I
was well acquainted, and attended Irwell Street Chapel.
Having myself a place of business in Ducie Place at the
time when the office of the Manchester Times was there, I
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THE ''MANCHESTER TIMES:'
289
used to be fond of going in on the Friday evening, and
seeing the papers worked off on a roller machine, turned
by a solitary man. What a contrast with what is to be seen
to-day in the printing office of one of the present Man-
chester newspapers !
About 1845 Mr. Prentice sold the Manchester Times to
three gentlemen, two of whom had taken a very active part
in the Anti-Com-Law agitation, Henry Rawson, Henry
Barry Peacock, and Abraham Walter Paulton, when
Mr. Paulton became its editor. Mr. Paulton had been a
medical man at Bolton, and being present during the
delivery of an Anti-Com-Law lecture one evening, he was
greatly exasperated at the stupid way in which the lecturer
answered the questions of some disputant after the lecture.
He jumped on the platform and undertook the task of
answering the man himself. He was thus led into the
vortex of agitation, and became one of the most prominent
and successful of Anti-Com-Law lecturers. I remember him
well, and have frequently listened to him. He died a few
years ago at his house in Surrey.
Shortly after the TYmes had changed hands another
newspaper was started which advocated the same principles
as the Manchester TYmes, and looked for support to the
same class of readers. It took the name of the Examiner,
It was felt by the friends of reform that there was con-
siderable waste of power in supporting two newspapers of
precisely similar views, and about 1848 a union was effected
and the Manchester Examiner and Times, published by
Alexander Ireland & Co., was the result Mr. Thomas
Ballantyne had been editor of the Examiner, and after a
u
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290
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
while he retired, when Mr. Paulton became editor of the
Exaptiner and Times. On his retirement, about 1854, the
proprietors were singularly fortunate in securing the services
of the present editor, who was previously a Baptist minister
in Salford. The attention of the proprietors of the paper
was directed to him from the fact that the Anti-Com-Law
League had offered a large sum of money as a prize for
the best essay on the Com Laws, for which Mr. Henry
Dunckley was the successful competitor. Mr. H. B. Peacock
had a select tailoring business in King Street, and after-
wards in St Ann's Square, but became well known in local
literary, dramatic, and musical circles. His- natural bias
towards literature and criticism led him in middle life to
surrender liis business engagements and to devote himself
to more congenial pursuits. He had formerly been art,
literary, and dramatic critic on the Courier^ and after the
establishment of the Examiner and TYmeSy he joined its
staff in the same capacity. Archibald Prentice died in
1857, aged 65 ; and H. B. Peacock in 1876.
The Manchester Courier fifty years ago was published by
Mr. Thomas Sowler, a bookseller and stationer in St Ann's
Square. His father was a letterpress printer, and in 1794
was carrying on business as such under the firm of Sowler
and Russell, at 13, Hunt's Bank. They afterwards removed
to the river side of Deansgate, near the Old Church end,
where Mr. Russell, after Mr. Sowler's death, continued the
business in partnership with Mr. Allen, and where
Mrs. Russell still continued it fifty years since. Mr. Russell,
it has been mentioned before, was a Wesleyan, and was
the means of introducing Methodism into the village of
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THE ** MANCHESTER COURIERS
291
Cheetham HilL Thomas Sowler, the son, when quite a young
man, opened a bookseller and stationer's shop in St Ann's
Square, on the Deansgate side near the Exchange end.
It will be remembered that when the prospectus of the
Guardian was published in 182 1, Mr. Sowler^s name was
given as one of its agents. On the ist of January, 1825,
the first number of the Courier was published by Mr. Sowler,
his original intention being to publish it on a Thursday.
The intention, however, was changed, and it continued to
be published on a Saturday till it became a daily paper. It
was announced in the first number that a portion of its
columns was to be devoted to Science, the Fine Arts, and
Belles Lettres. Its first editor was Alaric A. Watts.
Mr. Thomas Sowler will be remembered as a good-looking,
rather portly, well-dressed, and gentlemanly-looking man,
who, being short-sighted, generally wore his spectacles
in the street
The contrast between the Manchester newspapers of
to-day, and those of fifty years ago, is remarkable. A paper
now rarely, if ever, contains any reference to the contents
of one of its contemporaries. Each seems to ignore the
existence of the rest In former days such references were
very conunon.
When each paper was stamped there was no difficulty in
ascertaining the average weekly number of copies of each
printed. In a return made rather less than fifty years since
I find the number as follows: — Guardian^ 5,144;
Advertiser, 3,827 ; Times, Zi^^9 > Courier, 2,635 i Chronicle,
1,038.
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292
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
CHAPTER XXV.^
BUILDING CLUBS.
T^HERE were several bmlding societies in operation
fifty years ago, and all of them were held at public-
houses. The first of which I have any personal knowledge,
and of which I became a member whilst quite a young
man, was held at the Red Lion in Church Street I was
introduced to it by Mr. Jonathan Rawson, of Cromford
Court, and remember a Mr. Mellor and Mr. William
Froggatt, house painter, as members of it I have not
been able to ascertain when such societies were originated,
or by whom. The first that I can hear of was held at a
public-house in Ancoats in 1817. The following were in
existence fifty years ago: One at the house of Joshua
Beatson, the Black Mare, Canal Street, Ancoats ; one at
the Lamb Inn, Oldham Road, kept by William Hanley;
one at the Black. Horse, Greek Street, Rusholme Road ;
and one at the Salutation Tavern, Boundary Lane, Oxford
Road, which was established by the workpeople of
Mr. Hugh Hornby Birley some time between 1825 and
1830. It appears that shortly after this an effort was made
to establish a building society on temperance principles,
which held its meetings at the Old Meal House in Nicholas
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BUILDING SOCIETIES.
293
Croft, and was afterwards removed to the Lever Street
Chapel, when its name was changed from the Temperance
to the Manchester and Salford Building Society.
The societies at that time existing were not on the
permanent system as now, but were terminating. They
seem to have been in a great measiure public-house dubs,
but were conducted with order and decorum, as the
stringency of the rules indicates. For a long time after
their first establishment it never seemed to enter the heads
of the managers that one of these clubs could be held
anywhere else than in a public-house, or that the business
could be got through without something to drink. The
landlord seems to have been quite as important a person in
connection with them as the secretary. I have before me
the printed rules of one which was established in 1821 at
the house of Thomas Nelson, the Union Inn, Horrocks,
Red Bank. As the rules present a striking contrast with
the rules of building societies as at present constituted, a
brief description of them may be interesting. No doubt
the rules of this society were a type of others.
The spirit of the times is reflected in the legal jargon
and verbosity of some of the rules, which are in the form of
sixteen articles of agreement '' indented, made, concluded,
and fully agreed upon between Thomas Nelson, innkeeper ;
Thomas Constantine, joiner; William Taylor, shopkeeper;
Samuel Ashworth, shopkeeper; William Reid, fustian
cutter; Alexander Parkinson, silk manufacturer, six of the
subscribers and also trustees, who mutually, reciprocally,
jointly, separately, and distinctly covenanted, declared, and
agreed, etc." The last article declares that "the parties
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294 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
all agree amongst themselves that they shall and will in all
things well and truly observe, perform, fulfil, accomplish,
pay, and keep all and singular the covenants, articles,
clauses, payments, conditions, and agreements, etc."
The first article provides that there shall be three
trustees, to be in office six months, when the three seniors
were to retire and three others were appointed, and so on,
three to be changed every six months. Anyone refusing to
serve was to pay a fine of five shillings, but if re-elected
within thirteen months he should not be obliged to serve.
The monthly meeting was to begin at seven and close at
nine p.m., and if there was any dispute as to the exact
time, the matter was to be settled by the majority. The
monthly subscription was ten shillings per share, and the
privilege of receiving an advance was sold to the highest
bidder out of three times bidding. Every member receiving
his money was to pay eight shillings and fourpence per
share per month. The fines for non-payment of the
subscription were threepence per share for the first month,
sixpence for the second, a shilling for the third, two
shillings for the fourth, four shillings for the fifth, and for
each following month four shillings. If not paid up at the
end of twelve months, the defaulter was to be excluded and
forfeit all money he had paid, as well as all the benefit
belonging to him in the club. Any member entitled to
receive his purchase money was to give two days' notice to
the treasurer, and was to pay six shillings to the trustees for
their expenses ; and in case they had to go more than two
miles from the Market Place, he should pay reasonable
expenses. The names and residences of the trustees for
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RULES OF A BUILDING CLUB.
295
the time were to be entered in a book to be kept by the
landlord, to whom application was to be made, and if he
foiled to give notice to the trustees, he was to be fined ten
shillings and sixpence. Not less than foiu: were to act, and
if any trustee should refuse to go, he was to be fined two
shillings. Great care was to be exercised as to the ad-
mission of new members, and any member relating (sic) any
unfavourable remark made on any person wishing to enter
was to be fined five shillings. The landlord was to give
security for the safe keeping of the box and books of the
society^ and there were to be five locks and keys to the box
— ^three keys for the three senior trustees, and one each
for the treasurer and landlord When the trustees were
summoned to attend to transact certain business at a time
fixed by the senior trustee, if any of them did not attend
within half-an-hour, he was fined a shilling ; if not within an
hour, two shillings; and if not within an hour and a half,
three shillings. If grievances arose, the complainant was
to apply to the trustees, who were to appoint a committee
of investigation. If the complaint were unfounded, the
person making it was to pay the expenses of the committee,
and vice-versa. If any member refiised to serve on the bye-law
committee, he was fined two shillings ; if fifteen minutes
late at any of its meetings, he was fined sixpence; if
half-an-hour late, a shilling; and an hour, eighteenpence,
unless hindered by business or indisposition. The fines
were to go to the general fund If any of the trustees or
secretary were not in the clubroom on the night of meeting
by half-past seven o'clock, he was fined sixpence ; if not by
eight, a shilling; or half-past eight, five shillings. The
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296 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
senior trustee was to keep good order in the club-room. If
any officer embezzled any money, he was to repay it and be
fined two guineas, or be excluded.
If any member of the club should manifest signs of being
under the influence of drink, he should be ordered to with-
draw; if he refused he was fined sixpence, and again
ordered to withdraw; if he still refused, another fine of
sixpence was imposed, and the order to withdraw repeated,
and so on till he yielded. Any member using offensive or
indecent language, was to be called to order, and if he
should not desist, was fined a shilling. But if any member
should fight with or strike another he was fined five shillings.
There were two drink stewards appointed whose office
lasted for three months. They were to serve in rotation,
as their names stood on the book, or be fined two shillings.
If a drink steward was not in the clubroom by half-past
seven he was fined threepence, if not by eight, sixpence,
and if not by half-past eight two shillings and sixpence.
The 'Secretary was to have a salary of one guinea for the
first six months, after that it was to be fixed as the members
should agree.
There is no mention in the rules of borrowing money or
entrusting it on deposit to the society. There was no
danger of a run on the trustees, and but little temptation
was held out to the property speculator. The societies were
economically managed, and every member took an interest
in the welfare of the society and knew how matters were
getting on. Not only so, but the members became
acquainted with each other, and where the club was well
conducted many a pleasant evening was often spent
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MUSIC.
297
CHAPTER XXVL
MUSIC, PAGANINI, AND MALIBRAN.
TT is just about fifty years since what may be called a
revival in the musical world of Manchester seems to
have taken place, the evidences of which were the establish-
ment of the Glee Club, the building of the present Concert
Hall, the institution of the Manchester Choral Society, and
the production and public performance of an oratorio by a
Manchester musician.
The Glee Club was originated in 1830, and its meetings
were held in the large room behind Hayward's Hotel, in
Bridge Street Its first president was Mr. William Shore.
My master, Horatio Miller, became a member of it, and
took me with him on one occasion. I remember Mr. John
Isherwood as one of its members ; he was a stout, thick-set
man, having a capital bass voice. He was a member of the
choir, I believe, at St Peter's ChurcL He died shortly
after this, and left a son, James, also a musical man, but
who, unlike his father, was thin and spare.
The Concert Hall was opened in 1831, the Concert
Rooms — ^as they were called — Shaving been previously in
Fountain Street The original income from the present
hall was 3,000 guineas, derived from 600 subscribers of five
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298 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
guineas each, each of whom had two tickets to every
concert, one for himself and another for a lady member of
his family, for any male under age, or for any person not
resident within a prescribed distance.
The Manchester Choral Society was founded in 1833,
and held its first meeting in the Exchange Dining Room.
Amongst ^e professors of music then resident here was
Mr. Richard Cudmore, living in George Street He com-
posed an oratorio called "The Martyr of Antioch," which
was performed at the Theatre Royal in 1832, and from
which it was thought worthy to give a selection on the
occasion of the last Musical Festival here.
Amongst the musical characters of Manchester in those
days I may mention the following, whom I remember :
David Ward Banks; Gregory, violinist; Hughes, oboe
player ; Henry Arnold, teacher of music ; Thomas Buck,
engraver and member of Old Church choir; the two
Malones, who used to sing at the Catholic Chapel;
J. Sheldrick, Prestwich ; and Miss Barlow, singers.
Although it is not quite fifty years since Paganini visited
Manchester, and since the last Musical Festival here, I
may be allowed to include them in these reminiscences.
Paganini visited Manchester some little time after I came
here, and well do I recollect the occasion. His per-
formance took place in the old Theatre Royal in Fountain
Street, into the pit of which I obtained admission after a
desperate struggle. The steps leading to it out of Fountain
Street took a sharp turn to the left, presenting an ugly
elbow, against which, so great was the crush, I got jammed,
and had considerable difficulty in extricating mjrsell The
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PAGANINL 299
house was crowded some time before the banning of the
performance, and when at last the time arrived, a tall,
gaunt figure stepped to the front of the stage with fiddle in
one hand and bow in the other, with his long hair turned
back showing a fine forehead and an intellectual face.
Nothing could exceed his awkward appearance as he stood
bowing to the audience, in response to their plaudits. He
seemed like a fish out of water until the uproar ceased,
when a sudden change came over him as he placed his
violin in position. He then seemed all at once to forget
where he was, and losing the painful expression of
countenance he had previously manifested, his features
assumed an earnest expression of delight and his whole
soul seemed absorbed in his instrument I make no
pretensions to musical criticism, and having listened to
Norman-Neruda and Joachim in later days, I have often
wondered as I have been charmed by their performance
whether Paganini excelled them. One marvellous feat
which he accomplished that night I remember was the
imitation on his violin of the several noises heard in a
farm-yard, such as the cacklmg of geese, the braying of an
ass, and the grunting of a pig. In after years a blind man
known as Tom Inglescent, who kept the Paganini Tavern in
Great Ancoats Street, became a very clever imitator of the
great violinist
It so happened that having finished my apprenticeship,
and concluded a term of service as an assistant with
Mr. Horatio Miller, I left his employ on the Saturday
before the last Manchester Musical Festival, and resolved
to enjoy the Festival week, which began on Monday the
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300 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
1 2th of September, 1836. There have been only two
musical festivals in Manchester, one in 1828 and one in
1836. On the first occasion the receipts were about
;£i 5,000, leaving a profit of ;^ 5,000, which was divided
amongst the charitable institutions of the town. In this
sum, however, was mcluded a donation of ;^ 500 from the
first Sir Robert Peel, and another mimificent contribution
from his son and successor. On the last occasion there
was no donation higher than ;^2o, and the receipts were
;^ 17,500, which left a profit of ;^4,23o, out of which
;;^i,5oo were paid to the Infirmary.
The Festival included a dress ball on the Monday
evening at the Assembly Rooms, four morning performances
of sacred music in the Old Church, three miscellaneous
concerts at the old Theatre Royal in Fountain Street, on
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, and on
Friday evening a fancy dress ball. The Tuesday morning's
performance at the Old Church included more than fifly
recitatives, airs, and choruses, and began with Attwood's
Coronation Anthem, which was followed by the whole of
Haydn's " Creation," in three parts. This was succeeded by
a selection from Mozart's "Requiem," and Bishop's cantata,
" The Seventh Day," concluded the programme. Besides
principals there were 102 instrumentalists, and 224 chorus
singers, gathered from York, London, Manchester, Liverpool,
and other parts of Lancashire. The principal vocalists
were Mesdames Malibran, Caradori Allan, Assandri, Bishop,
Knyvett, A. Shaw, and Clara Novello (then not more than
eighteen) ; and of gentlemen, Lablache, Braham, Bennett,
Phillips, Ivanoff, and Machin. The principal instrumental
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THE LAST MUSICAL FESTIVAL.
301
performers were — ^Violm, De Beriot (Malibran's husband) ;
violoncello, Lindley; contra-basso, Dragonetti; comet,
Harper; flute, Nicholson; oboe, Cooke; clarionet,
Willman; bassoon, Baumann; and horn, Piatt The
conductor was Sir George Smart; and the leader of the
band at the evening concerts was Mori, and of the
oratorios at the church F. Cramer, whilst the organist was
W. Wilkinson, of Manchester.
It was my good fortune to be present at the concerts on
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, on which latter occasion
I heard Malibran sing the very last note she ever sang on
earth. I was also present to hear the "Messiah" on
Thursday morning, and finished up the week with the &ncy
dress ball on Friday night. On the Monday there were
two full rehearsals, one at the church, at which all the
principal and other performers were present except
Malibran, and which began at nine a.m., and did not
terminate till nearly five p.m. In the evening there was a
second rehearsal at the theatre, which was not over till
eleven p.m. At the ball on Monday evening there was a
good deal of excitement caused by a report, which rapidly
spread through the room, that several gentlemen had been
eased of their purses. Deputy-constable Thomas was sent
for and scrutinized the company, but the birds had taken
wing. However, next morning, just before the oratorio of
the "Creation" was begim, when the audience were
crowding into the church, a carriage drove up, and four
well-dressed gentlemen, with two dashingly-attired ladies,
alighted and marched up the covered way to present their
tickets. Thomas saw them and proceeded to put some
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302 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
rather awkward questions to them, on which the ladies left
in disgust. The gentlemen were eventually locked up, and,
on being brought before the magistrates next mornings it
was proved that they were members of the swell-mob of
LondoiL
At the Tuesday evening concert, after an Italian song
most exquisitely given by Lablache and Malibran, I
remember being most pleased with Phillips' rendering of
''The Light of other Days," accompanied by Harper on the
comet, which was one of the finest porformances I ever
heard The duet by Malibran and Lablache was a comic
song, which convulsed the whole audience, he trying to
imitate Malibran in a falsetto voice, whilst she retorted
upon him in a kind of bass. It was on Wednesday evening
that Malibran sang as perhaps she had never done before,
and died in the attempt Caradori Allan and she were
appointed to sing in a duet from ''Andronico,'* when they
seemed to rival each other in their efforts. The scene is
very vividly impressed on my memory. There was a rather
high note, in singing which one of the two indulged in a
brilliant trill, which was followed by a similar effort on the
part of the other. The effort quite electrified the audience,
and when the song was finished the applause was almost
overwhelming, and an encore demanded Unfortunately
Malibran responded to it, and again the two went through
their parts with (if possible) increased ardour, and retired
amidst tremendous applause. In a very short time
Dr. Bardsley (uncle of the late Sir James) was called
from his seat in the pit, with Mr. Worthington the
surgeon, to see Malibran. Soon after, one of the stewards
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MAUBRAN'S DEATH.
303
was obliged to announce that she had become so ill
that Dr. Bardsley had deemed it necessary to bleed her
in the arm ( ! \ and considered it would not be safe for
her to take any further part in the performance that night
Neither was she able to take her part in the '' Messiah "
at the church the next morning, although, contrary to the
wish of the committee, and, in the first instance, of her
medical advisers, she insisted on going to the church. She
had not been long in the ante-room, however, when she
was seized with hysterics, and was brought back to her
hotel, from which she never removed till her -death, which
took place on the Friday week, September 23rd. She was
interred in the Collegiate Church, on Saturday, Oct ist,
the Roman Catholic service for the dead having been pre-
viously performed at the hotel by the Rev. James Crook,
of St Augustine's, Granby Row. A series of contentions
regarding the removal of Malibran's remains to Brussels
b^an on the Wednesday following. Representations were
made by a relative of M. de Beriot to the Festival
Committee, who in reply maintained that the funeral had
been carried out in strict accordance with the instructions
given by M. de Beriot to Mr. Thomas Beale, Alderman
Willert, and Mr. Joseph Ewart Many negotiations took
place, and eventually a suit was instituted in the Consistory
Court At length towards the end of December a simple
and touching letter was addressed by the singer's mother to
Mr. Sharp, the senior churchwarden, which cleared away
the opposition. Feeling had run very high, and in order
to avoid anj^ing like popular tumult, at five o'clock on a
dark December morning, the almost weird-like scene of the
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304
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
exhumation of Malibran's body took place, between twelve
and thirteen weeks after its interment, and long before
people were astir the remains of the ill-&ted cantatrice were
many miles removed from Manchester.
After the effort referred to of the two queens of the
festival, Braham sang ''Mad Tom," accompanied on the
piano by Sir George Smart, with splendid effect, and shortly
after Lablache gave " Non piu andrai," from " Figaro." I
remember the ease with which he sang it, standing at the
front of the stage with the fingers of his right hand between
the buttons of his waistcoat, and producing such full, rich,
mellow notes, as my next neighbour remarked to me, as
though he had a musical instrument in his inside. The
song was encored, and though I have never heard the air
since I have remembered it to this day. He was, I believe,
musical preceptor to the Queen when she was Princess
Victoria. I also call to mind the beautiful playing of a
concerto on the violoncello by William Lindley, accom-
panied by Dragonetti on the contra-basso.
Hearing the " Messiah " on Thursday morning for the
first time in my life under such exceptionally happy circum-
stances, it is no wonder that its performance afforded me
the most unbounded delight My old master, Horatio
Miller, who was a man of refined and cultivated taste, and
had lived in London nearly all his life, told me afterwards
that the performance had exceeded anything he had ever
heard, and that the exquisite character of some of the
singing had produced such an effect upon his nerves that
he was good for nothing the rest of the day. The opening
recitative and air by Braham were fine indeed. The parts
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FANCY DRESS BALL.
305
assigned to Malibran were principally taken by Caradori
Allan. In the Hallelujah Chorus, Harper's trumpet added
much to its effect; it was said that he was the best
performer on that instrument ever heard in England.
As to the Fancy Dress Ball, I suppose no sight like it
has ever been witnessed in Manchester, either before or
since, and perhaps never will be again, inasmuch as now
the old Theatre Royal and the Assembly Rooms are gone,
it would be difficult to find the necessary space. There
was no single building in Manchester which would contain
a fourth part of the persons expected to attend the ball,
and hence it was determined to throw into one suite of
rooms the Portico, the Assembly Rooms (which were
exactly opposite, in Mosley Street), and the Theatre Royal,
which was behind the Assembly Rooms, in Fountain Street
Accordingly, wide covered communications were built over
Mosley Street and Back Mosley Street, connecting these
buildings together, in addition to which a spacious building
was erected over Charlotte Street, to be used as a
refreshment-room. Although so much space was provided
— for it was said that the suite of apartments referred to,
with the passages, formed a promenade of little less than
a quarter of a mile in length — ^yet the rooms were crowded
to suffocation. Dancing was very difficult in the Theatre,
the stage and auditorium of which were made into one
great ballroom ; but in the two ballrooms in the Assembly
Room, and especially in the Portico Newsroom, there was
a good deal of dancing. The principal entrance was in
Mosley Street, not Cooper Street, and the company were
at once ushered into the tea-room; but as the evening
X
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306 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
advanced, locomotion was difficult, and the passages over
Back Mosley Street into the Theatre were choked with
people, and it took an hour to get into the supper-room,
built over Charlotte Street Many never succeeded in
reaching that room at alL The lounge or drawing-room
over Mosley Street was extremely elegant, fitted up with
splendour and with an appearance of great comfort, with
abundance of ottomans and mirrors. I believe there were
nearly five thousand persons present, and one thing which
greatly surprised me was the large number of £Emcy dresses
which arrived in Manchester to be hired out, which were
sent by firms in London, and no doubt from the Continent
also. As the time of the ball approached, the prices, which
at first were high, were greatly moderated, so that the day
before I was able to hire a dress, representing a Turkish
sailor, for fifteen shillings. No doubt many of the wealthy
had dresses made to order, but an enormous number were
hired, and there seemed to be no limit to the supply. It
was the only time in my life at which I have been present
at a ball, and it was an occasion not to be forgotten.
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PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. 307
CHAPTER XXVII.
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS.
A DESCRIPTION of what Manchester was fifty years
ago would be incomplete without some notice of the
public amusements of the day, which were not so numerous
as now, even in proportion to the population. Neither
Belle Vue nor Pomona Gardens then flourished; but
instead Vauxhall or Tinker's Gardens, in the neighbour-
hood of Collyhurst, was the favourite resort of the class of
people who patronised that sort of thing. Instead of
visitors brought by cheap trips on the rails from Lincoln-
shire, Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Wales, and many parts of
the north of England, Tinker's Gardens were supported
chiefly by Manchester people and those who lived not far
distant I cannot describe them, as I never saw them till
they were in ruins, when I saw the sand they contained
being carted away, but they were nothing like the others
mentioned either in extent or attractiveness. They were
originated some time at the close of the last century by
Robert Tinker, who died in 1836, at the age of seventy.
An attempt was once made to establish Zoological Gardens,
which were opened in a lane turning out of the Higher
Broughton Road, on the right-hand side going up. They
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308 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
were well stocked and tastefully laid out, but not being
supported as they deserved to be, were after a time closed.
The animals and their cages, the plants, and fixtures were
sold by auction by Mr. Fletcher, many of the animals being
purchased by Mr. Jennison, the proprietor of Belle Vue
Gardens, and formed the nucleus of his present collection.
Neither were there such places of amusement as the casinos
and music halls of the Lower Mosley Street and Peter
Street types to attract the populace. I have mentioned
before that the hours of business were much longer than at
present, some of the warehouses not closing till very late.
As for the Saturday afternoon holiday, it was not even
dreamt of. Hence people had fewer opportunities of
indulging their inclinations in this direction. There was
no such thing as a weekly concert of any kind; for
those which preceded Hallo's, conducted by the late
David W. Banks, did not begin till many years after.
The opportunities afforded to people outside the Concert
Hall of hearing good music were few and far between.
Kersal Moor, or as it was generally pronounced by the
lower orders " Karsey Moor," races were held during the
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of Whit week, and were
then as popular as the races of to-day. The managers
of Sunday Schools had not the same opportunities of
presenting counter attractions by means of cheap railway
trips to distant places (some of them outrageously distant)
as now. Still they managed to amuse and interest the
young people quite as effectually. As to the railways, there
is the greatest possible contrast between the Whit week in
Manchester of 1830 and that of 1880, and no stronger
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KERSAL MOOR RACES. 309
iUustiatioii can be furnished of how the supply of a good
thing creates the demand for it
Kersal Moor races were first established a century
previously to the time I speak of, and were opposed by
Dr. Byrom, who wrote a pamphlet strongly condemning
them. They were kept up for fifteen years and were then
discontinued, but in another fifteen years were re-estabUshed.
On the second attempt, though a very long and severe
paper war was carried on against their renewal, they
retained their hold of the public, and in 1777 the grand
stand was built It has been previously mentioned that
one of the principal supporters of the races fifty years ago
was Mr. Thomas Houldsworth, M.P., a cotton spinner,
who lived at Na 2, Portland Place, the site of the present
Queen's Hotel He was a great favourite with the racing
public, who were much elated by the victory of any one of
his horses, which were always known by his jockeys wearing
jackets of green and gold. Unlike the present racecourse,
as I am told, the moor was as free as the air you breathe
there. Under the stands were drinking-bars, which were
let o£f to various publicans, amongst which one of the most
popular was old Joseph Blears, the landlord of the Jolly
Carters at Winton, near Eccles, who was a customer of ours
for soda-water. It was at his house, it will be remembered,
that a servant girl was foully murdered in 1826 by two
brothers named M'Keand, with the view of plundering the
house. They stabbed Mrs. Blears in several parts of the
body, but she survived nearly twenty years. The event
caused a great sensation throughout the coimtry. I
remember going to the house and inspecting the scene of
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3IO
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
the murder. The murderers were afterwards apprehended
and executed at Lancaster. Just behind the grand stand
was a hSlock on which, in 1790, a man was hanged for a
burglary committed at the house of a Mr. Cheetham, on
the Chester Road. In addition to Kersal Moor races, the
Earl of Wilton opened Heaton Park for races for one or
two days in the autumn of every year, and they were nearly
as well patronized as the former. In 1839 the Earl
discontinued thenu
The barbarous sport of bull-baiting was, fifty years ago,
not quite extinct, for although not practised in Manchester,
it was at Eccles on the occasion of the wakes, which were
attended by a large number of Manchester people who
could find delight in such cruelty. Akin to this was the
practice of cock-fighting, which flourished here fifty years
ago. The cockpit, which, as the name implies, had been
originally in Cockpit Hill, behind Market Street, was then
in Salford, near Greengate. Every Whit week the sport
began on the Monday and usually lasted all the week.
The Earl of Derby (great grandfether of the present earl)
was a chief supporter of cock-fighting, and used to stay at
the Albion Hotel during Whit week. Living in Market
Street, I well remember him driving down to the cockpit
in a carriage and four every day about twelve o'clock in
that week.
It is said that the first place employed as a theatre was a
temporary structure of timber at the bottom of King Street
After this a theatre was opened in Marsden Street, in 1753,
and was closed in 1 775. In this year application was made
to Parliament for a bill to erect what was called, fifty years
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THEATRES.
3"
ago, the " Minor Theatre," at the comer of Spring Gardens
and York Street, but which was originally called the
Theatre Royal. As iUustrating the spirit of that age, it is
worth mentioning that the bill was opposed by the Bishop
of London, on the ground that Manchester was a manu-
facturing town, and nothing could be more destructive to
the political welfare of the place ; whilst it was supported
by the Earl of Carlisle, because Manchester, he said, had
become the seat of Methodism, and he thought there was
no way so effectual to eradicate '^ that dark, odious, and
ridiculous enthusiasm as by giving the people cheerful
amusements, which might counteract their methodistical
melancholy!" This building was burnt down in 1789,
and the following year the theatre was erected which was
standing on the same spot fifty years ago, and which (then
called the " Minor"), with the Royal, in Fountain Street,
were the only theatres in Manchester. I remember three
of the performers at the Minor whom I knew by sight off
the stage, one of whom was Henry (generally called Harry)
Beverley, the lessee and manager, a man above the average
size, who had a comical expression of the face. Another was
a rather slim, spare man, a comedian, named Sloane ; and
the third was a short, stiff-built man, named Preston, who
was the principal tragedian, and, I believe, a great &vourite
with the gallery people. He afterwards kept a public-house,
and we supplied him with soda-water, so that I got to know
him, and foimd him a very decent fellow. On one occasion
Sloane ascended with some noted aeronaut in a balloon,
when it was announced that after his descent he would
make his Vay to the theatre and give the audience an
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3 1 2 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
account of his aerial voyage. An attempt was made at
another time, I remember, to increase the attraction of the
theatre by providing a huge mirror, or rather set of mirrors
in one immense sheet, to divide the stage from the rest of
the house.
I remember going there on one occasion to hear a
lecture on taxation by William Cobbett He was a
fair-complexioned, roundish-built man, above the average
height, wore knee-breeches, and presented the appearance
of a respectable, well-to-do burner. Unlike Richard Cobden
in appearance, he resembled him in the treatment of his
subject, in his free use of Saxon words, and his clear,
common-sense way of putting his case. In connection with
his name I may say here that I remember Henry Hunt,
too, of Peterloo notoriety, proceeding up Market Street,
and standing up in an open carriage drawn by four grey
horses at a walking pace, accompanied by a crowd of
working people. He was a hardy-looking, big, square-built
man, and presented a sun-browned face. I also once
caught a sight of Sir Francis Burdett, as he was turning out
of Market Street into Pool Fold, walking with one or two
other gentlemen, and followed by a small crowd. If my
memory does not deceive me, he wore knee-breeches and
top-boots. In after-days I saw and heard Feargus O'Connor
several times.
The Theatre Royal in Fountain Street was opened in
1807, under the management of Mr. Macready (I think
the late Mr. Macready's father), at a rental of ;£2,ooo a
year, and fifty years ago was under the management of
Mr. Robert Clarke, who, as before stated, was a friend of
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BAKER, THE COMEDIAN. 313
my master. I have previously explained that my father,
being a Wesleyan minister, bound me an apprentice to a
gentleman of the same religious denomination, who, during
my apprenticeship, sold the business to Mr. Horatio Miller,
of London, who, amongst other literary and artistic tastes,
was dramatically inclined. As I remained with Mr. Miller,
it was in this way I gained a knowledge of various actors,
both eminent and ordinary, and have already mentioned
several great performers, such as Charles Kemble, Dowton,
Macready, and others, who, when in Manchester, used to
visit my master, and with some of whom I have dined at
the ordinary table. Amongst the regular company of the
Theatre Royal was a comedian named Baker, who used to
call, and who was very popular with theatrical audiences,
and rather witty. I remember hearing of his once entering
the bar of the White Bear, where were a number of
gentlemen whom he knew. One of them, who had a silver
snu£f-box, after taking a pinch of snuff from it, laid it on
the table, when Baker, taking it up and likewise taking a
pinch, put the box into his pocket and was walking off with
it On being called back and requested to leave the box
behind him, he replied that it seemed ''a hard case that a
poor actor was not allowed to take a box for his own bene-
fit" The White Bear was then kept by the well-known
Ben Oldiield, of whom it was written after his death : ^' This
gentleman might not be inaptly styled the Peter Pindar of
Lancashire ; his wit was keen and brilliant, and his humour
rough, but full of living nature." I remember him as a
well-built, pleasant-looking, and well-dressed man.
Some years after, and before the Free Trade Hall was
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314
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
builti in the days of the Anti-Com-Law agitation, a large
bazaar was held in the old Theatre Royal, in which I took
an active part A committee of nearly two hundred ladies
was formed, including many who had distinguished them-
selves in work^f charity and philanthropy in various parts
of the country. It was originally intended that it should
be held in the Town Hall, but it soon became apparent
that the building would not be large enough. The Theatre
Royal was at length fixed upon, and its whole interior
changed under the superintendence of an architect The
pit was boarded over, and its sombre appearance was con-
verted into one of great beauty and brilliance. There has
been no bazaar like it either before or since. It was
continued for ten working days, viz., from the Monday of
one week to the Thursday of the following week, during
which the greatest enthusiasm prevailed. The receipts
were ;^8,333, which was made up to ;^io,ooo by the
proceeds of a sale of the remains by auction and by various
donations of money. There were thirty-eight stalls, at one
of which a sister of Richard Cobden presided. Living
authors contributed many of their works, amongst whom
were Campbell, Moore, Rogers, Ebenezer £lliott, the
Rev. John Foster, Dr. Pye Smith, Airy (the Astronomer
Royal), Dr. Elliotson, Miss Martineau, and Mrs. Marcet.
A very large and very valuable collection of autographs,
including those of the Queen, Prince Albert, and the
Royal dukes, was disposed of by lottery. There was a
large refreshment stall presided over by Mrs. Thomas
Woolley, and as I supplied the soda water and lemonade, I
undertook the management of that department for her.
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DESTRUCTION OF THEATRE ROY AIL
315
I had the free run of the building, and never enjoyed a
week and a half more. I remember getting up into the
higher regions of the theatre and discovering how thunder
was produced and whence the hail came.
The old building was burnt down on the 7th of May,
1844, having been in use thirty-seven years. In it the
most renowned men and women in the dramatic profession
appeared from time to time during its existence.
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3 1 6 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
DRESS AND CONCLUSION.
TN concluding these reminiscences it must naturally be
the case that several subjects illustrating the condition
of Manchester fifty years ago will remain unnoticed. There
are one or two matters, however, which may here be
mentioned promiscuously. And first a word on gentlemen's
dress, which differed in many respects from that of to-day.
To begin at the highest point The hat worn by gentlemen
was always what is commonly called a ''top hat," which
was covered with beaver, a gentleman's beaver hat being
an article now quite out of fashion. There were such
things as silk hats, but the silk was not so skilfully prepared
as now, and the hats then covered with silk were shabbier
and cheaper than beaver hats. The soft flexible felt hats
so much worn (especially by clergymen) at this day, a
gentleman would have been ashamed to be seen in. It is
difficult to say why so many clergymen, who should of all
men look clean and gentlemanly, delight in wearing such
shabby old felt hats. A clergyman fifty years ago looked
the gentleman. Next, under the hat you always saw the
lip and chin clean-shaved. A man who let his beard grow
would have been taken for a foreigner. So that in these
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GENlLEMEirS DRESS. 317
two respects many of the male portion of society, with
some of the clergy at their head, have undoubtedly
retrograded. Wearing a queue, which was so common at
the close of the last century, had just gone out of fashion,
the last person in Manchester who wore one, as I have
stated previously, being Mr. Yates, of the Star Hotel, in
whose family the hotel yet remains.
Loose shirt collars had not come into use, and the collar,
if worn at all, was generally part of the shirt, and but com-
paratively few persons wore them. Instead of the light,
narrow neckties now worn, large bulky neckerchiefs and
stiif deep stocks were the fashion. Elderly gentlemen wore
their shirts at the breast finished off by a large plaited ruffle.
The coat was generally swallow-tailed and made of good
broadcloth, and rarely of the cheap shoddy material now
so much used. Frock coats were beginning to come into
use, but the other were more general, and often made of
coloured cloth, as blue or brown, in which case they were
adorned with bright, metallic buttons, either gold or
silver-plated. Many persons will remember the late
Mr. C. J. S. Walker, the magistrate, whose blue coat,
buttoned up to the chin and adorned with bright buttons,
was about the last of the kind seen in Manchester. The
coat collar was very much deeper and the sleeve narrower,
especially at the wrists, following the shape of the arm, so
that the coat could not be easily slipped on and off as now,
but required a good deal of uncomfortable tugging for the
purpose. The lower garment was passing through a
transition state. Knee-breeches were going out and
trousers were coming in, young and middle-aged men
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3 1 8 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
generally wearing the latter, whilst most elderly men
adhered to the old &shion, with which gaiters made of the
same material as the breeches were generally worn.
Trousers were made much narrower than at present, so
much so that they were generally strapped down under the
boot This last article of apparel was a very different
thing from the convenient boot now adopted. The manu-
facture of india-rubber goods had not then been developed,
and elastics were unknown. The boot for men then in
&shion was the Wellington, the leg of which reached above
the calf, and the average cost of which was twenty-seven
shillings a pair. For an outside covering with elderly men,
the jacket introduced by Lord Spencer and named after
him was a favourite. Younger men often wore a plain
doak made of fine cloth, having a simple collar without
any cape. I well remember my master having one such
made of blue cloth with velvet collar and lined with red,
unbuttoned in front
I dare not venture to say anything as to the dress of the
ladies, which of coiurse has undergone endless changes since
the days we speak o£ I will only say that two of the most
striking changes refer to the head and the feet For first
the ladies wore bonnets — ^and bonnets then were bonnets,
though they were not so large as when John Wesley
denounced those of his followers who wore " elephantine
bonnets." A hat was rarely seen on a lady's head. A
favourite pattern was that of the "cottage bonnet," under
which many a pretty face with neatly parted hair was often
admired Secondly, the most striking feature in a lady's
walking attire at that time was that boots were not worn,
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OBJECTIONABLE HABITS. 3 1 9
instead of which it was customary to see ladies in the street
clad in low sandal shoes, with white stockings and
comparatively short dresses.
I should like to mention another matter with respect to
which a great change has taken place in Manchester during
the last fifty years. I allude to the diminution of the
practice of what is called swearing on the part of respectable
men. When I came to Manchester as an apprentice in
1829 it was quite common for respectable gentlemen, when
they came into the shop to make a purchase, unconsciously
and habitually to use some of those expressions which are
classed under the head of swearing. The practice was
very common in ordinary conversation, but now it is a rare
thing to hear what you formerly did. Amongst the lower
orders I fear no such improvement has taken place, either
with reg^ to swearing or drunkenness ; for as to the latter
also I think an improvement has taken place on the part of
respectable people.
I have mentioned before that fifty years ago there were
only twenty-three tobacconists' shops in Manchester, whilst
to-day there are nearly 500. It was a rare thing then to
see a respectable person smoking a pipe as he went to
business in a morning, especially a young man, to say
nothing of mere youths.
I can only allude to a class of subjects so vast and so
interesting that a good volume might be written on them.
I refer to the thousand and one scientific inventions of the
past half century which have been applied in so many ways
to the improvement and the manufacture of articles in use
in every-day life, tending to lighten labour, make life more
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320 MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO.
comfortable, and in various ways minister to our happiness.
Take one very simple instance as an illustration — ^that of a
trifling and insignificant article which, though in daily use,
is thought but little of Few people stop to bestow a mo-
ment's thought on the great convenience promoted by its
use as compared with the inconvenience which attended the
striking of a light fifty years ago. People who only know
the lucifer match have no idea of the trouble and inconve-
nience of the tinder-box and flint and steel in use fifty
years ago. The tinder box was a round tin box, with a
loose lid fitting inside upon the tinder, which was domesti-
cally prepared by the burning of rags, in the production
of which a little skill was required, and which it was
requisite to keep dry. The operator took in one hand the
steel, which was shaped like a small letter n of the
fifteenth century, and the flint in the other, and began
striking them together over the exposed tinder till a spark
fell and ignited it Sometimes the spark expired, when the
operation was recommenced and continued till the tinder
was ignited, when the operator gently blew the spark with
his mouth and applied a match which ignited. These
matches were very roughly made and were about six or
eight inches long, having had both their roughly pointed
ends dipped in melted brimstone. Everybody will see
what a tedious and troublesome process this was as com-
pared with the present mode of striking a light Is it
wrong, in the interests of us non-smokers, to wish that it
was still as difficult to strike a light out of doors ?
I well remember the first lucifer matches sold in boxes,
about two or three years after I came here as an apprentice.
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SCIENTIFIC INVENTIONS.
321
The maker's name was Jones, and they were a shflling a
box, the box being about the same size as at present The
matches were neatly made and were broad and thin, about
the thickness of a piece of cardboard. With each box was
given a piece of sand-paper doubled, through which you
drew the match sharply. I have on my library table a tin box
for many years used for postage stamps, which more than
forty-five years ago contained lucifer matches. It is about
twice the size of an ordinary penny box of matches, painted
inside and out, and so well made it seems but little the
worse for wear, and which sold for half-a-crown when full
of matches.
I might also instance the marvellous development of the
indiarubber trade in the manufacture of mackintosh garments,
elastic cord and webbing, and numerous articles used in
surgery, nursing, and for other purposes.
There are many other changes in everyday matters which
are the result not so much of scientific invention as of the
application of common sense and experience; as, for
instance, the improved method of removing furniture in
coyered vans. The old way of loading it on a lurry or in
an ordinary cart, and transporting it from one part of the
country to another in wet weather, was one of the most
miserable undertakings one can conceive. One wonders
why some such plan as the present was not adopted sooner.
There is hardly a science that can be named which has
not contributed its share to the happiness and well-being of
mankind during the past half century. During that time
the electric telegraph has been invented ; the art of the
photographer has arrived at a high state of perfection ;
Y
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322
MANCHESTER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
steam ships have learnt to trust themselves beyond our
rivers and coasts and have ventured on the wide ocean,
and now find their way to all parts of the world; the
spectroscope has almost rivalled the telescope in the
marvellous character of its discoveries; and many industries
have been almost revolutionized through the improvements
which have been effected in them.
True, these inventions are not confined to Manchester ;
still they are intimately associated with these Reminiscences.
One cannot but feel an interest in the future as well as the
past, and wonder what sort of place Manchester will be
in fifty years hence — how large it will be, and what the
moral, educational, and social condition of its inhabitants
will be. It may be the lot of some other observer of men
and things in the year 1930 to try to interest his fellow-
townsmen by Reminiscences of Manchester Fifty
Years Ago.
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APPENDIX.
The following additional information, in reference to one or
two gentlemen mentioned in the preceding pages, has appeared
in the colunms of the Manchester City News ;—
Manchester Doctors, page 47.— Mancuniensis, F.S.A., says :
"Mr. Slu^ has furnished us with a great amount of interesting and
reliable information respecting Manchester druggists and medical men
of a past and passing generation. Brazenose Street appears to have
been at one time a sort of medico-classic ground, but its fame in that
respect has now almost, if not entirely, vanished. One worthy, I may
mention, has been overlooked — ^an old bachelor surgeon of the name
of Tomlinson, who was an especial favourite with the ladies, and a
practitioner of general good repute. Dr. Carbutt died from an attack
of paralysis, about 1833 ; he was clever, eccentric, and sarcastic.
Speaking once of the increasing number of lecturers, he said he could
not expectorate out of his window without spitting upon one of that
fraternity. He was associated and on intimate terms with John Dalton,
Peter Clare, John Davies, Andrew Buchan, and others of the
philosophic school, but his companionship did not tend to his
equanimity of temper. On one occasion, being at the same dinner
table with the late Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth, then Dr. J. P. Kay,
the hitter being summoned to attend a distant patient, Dr, Carbutt, as
soon as the door was closed, rose from his seat, and striking the table
violently, exclaimed, * Confound it, I quite forgot to tell my servant to
send for me.* It is, I think, to be r^retted that the five years*
apprenticeship to a medical practitioner was abolished, for various and
substantial reasons, which might easily be assigned. The pupil of
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324
APPENDIX,
Mr. Oilier was Mr. Charles Juckes. Mr. Richmond, an old pupil of
Mr. Windsor, settled down to practice in Stretford Road, then a new
neighbourhood, after waiting some time in Gartside Street, on
the departure of Mr. Hunt to join Dr. Radford, in Ridgefield.
Mr. Richmond's able and exhaustive report on the sanitary condition
of Hulme, in 1S49, with those of Mr. Hatton for Chorlton, and
Mr. Kirkham for Ardwick, which followed, was the first to attract
public attention to the hygienic condition of the masses, and led to, if
Indeed it was not the direct cause, of the formation of the present
Sanitary Association. The report of the first-named gentleman, made
after the fever and choleraic visitations of 1S47 ^^^ 1S49, and presented
to the chairman of the Chorlton Board of Guardians, I have read, and
do not find it much, if at all, improved upon by more recent sanitary
investigations. It contains much valuable information as to the
condition of the tovmship, and with the statistical tables and chart
accompanying, shows clearly where the fever nests lay, and the
physical and social influences that so greatly affected the mortality in
particular localities. The late Mr. Walker Golland at one time lived
in Brazenose Street, and Mr. Roberts resided in Lever Street, nearly
opposite Mr. Fawdington's house."
Dr. Radford reminds me that I have omitted the name of
Mr. William Wood — a medical practitioner whose reputation was
very high. The fact is he had retired firom practice more than fifty
years ago, and his name is not to be found in the Directory either of
1829 or 1832. He was one of the surgeons of the Lying-in Hospital,
and had been a pupil at the Infirmary, afterwards becoming house
surgeon to that institution. On commencing practice, he was presented
with a magnificent silver cup by the Trustees of the Infirmary, which
he bequeathed to Dr. Radford. He used to live in King Street, and
died at Didsbury, in 1852, in his 84th year, affording another instance,
in addition to the many already mentioned, of the longevity of medical
men who have spent the best part of their lives in the heart of
Manchester.
Horatio Miller, page 72.— Mrs. Isabella Banks communicates
the foUowmg: "May I add a few words by way of addenda to
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APPENDIX.
325
Mr. Slugg*s very copious and valuable reminiscences? He remarks
that Horatio Miller, of Market Street, ' was no common man/ and he is
quite right in so saying. He was a man of scholarly attainments and
fiistidious refinement, a perfect gentleman in manner and bearing;
somewhat caustic and cynical, his sarcasm was withering. But he was
&r from unkindly, as I know, for he overlooked and advised upon my
Ivy Leaves before the volume went to press, though his own versification
was wofully wanting in poetry ; one more proof that criticism is a dis-
tinctive fiiculty. Mr. Slugg, perhaps, was not aware that Mr. H. Miller
had gone out with either Captain Parry or Sir John Ross (or both) on
one of their early Arctic expeditions. He had been, as a youth, ofiered
an appointment as ' page ' to George the Fourth, and rejected the ofifer
as infra dig. At one time I think he wrote the dramatic critiques for
the Advertiser. At all events, he was a frequenter of the theatres. He
was in the stage box of the old Theatre Royal the night when, during
the performance of The Tempest^ the wires by which Ariel (Miss Gardner)
was suspended, gave way, and she fell from a considerable height face
downwards on the stage ; Prospero (Mr. Butler) being too inebriated
to stand steadily, much less rush to her assistance. Had he been sober
he might have broken her £U1, caught her, in fact, as I from the upper
boxes saw first one wire snap, and then the second with the extra strain.
As it was, Mr. Miller disappearing from the stage-box was one of the
first to reach her, there being a door communicating with the stage
close to the stage-box, and, having some medical knowledge, was of use.
He told us the next morning she was more frightened than hurt I and
my friends thought she must be half killed. At the last Manchester
Musical Festival (during which Malibran died) there was a magnificent
fancy ball to wind up with, theatre, assembly rooms, portico, all being
pressed into the service, and connected with temporary galleries, and a
refreshment-room built over Charlotte Street Mr. Miller for that
occasion assumed the character of a jester (probably Touchstone),
having had a model of his own head and face taken for his gilt bauble.
His dress was rich and appropriate — ^two shades of amber trimmed with
gold. He looked the cynical, not to say sardonic, jester to a T, and was
fully capable of sustaining the character.*'
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326
APPENDIX,
Joseph Gale, page 98. — Felstox remarks : "I have always had
great pleasure myself, and known others also who have looked forward
to Mr. Slugg's interesting communications. Mr. Joseph Gale was
apprenticed to Mr. Dominic Bolongaro, who was a printseller, frame
maker, carver, and gilder, and had his place of business in Old Millgatc,
on the left-hand side from the Market Place, where he also sold mathe-
matical instruments. At this place, while Mr. Gale was there, I bought
an ivory sector, for which I paid 7s. 6d. Mr. Gale was in business as
printseller and gilder, in Market Street, near Cromford Court, and I
believe in the identical shop now occupied by Mr. Dominic Bolongaro,
son of the one Gale served his apprenticeship with. After this Mr.
Gale had a shop in King Street, where for some time he carried on the
business of printseller, carver, gilder, and picture-frame maker. This
shop was separated by an entry leading into Back King Street, from
Miss Boardman's well-known confectionery establishment— rebuilt, and
now a glass shop. Gale's old shop was taken by the late Mr. Findley,
the bootmaker, and where that business is still carried on. I should
not omit to mention that Gale had a stall in what was called the
Bazaar in Police Street, in which building there was also a diorama ;
but I suppose the place did not answer, and the whole of it was let to
Messrs. Watts, before Kendal, Milne, and Faulkner took it, and so
enormously enlarged it by adding to it the adjoining shops and ware-
houses, nearly rebuilding it altogether. Gale was also at one time an
auctioneer, and sold the stock of greyhounds which belonged to the
late Philip Houghton. One of the dogs, called Priam, had just won the
Waterloo Cup, and Gale sold it by auction for upwards of two hundred
guineas. Gale was once a hatter in Ducie Place, never in King Street.
This place commenced in Market Street, having on one side the
Exchange, and ended in Bank Street, opposite to the present Ducie
Buildings. Now it is part of the present Exchange. Here Gale intro-
duced a new feature into the hatting trade. He had a barrel of beer
with cheese for his visitors, whom he hoped to make customers if not
so already. In the rage for share speculations Gale became a share-
broker, and was a cheerful member of that community ; and if he did
not die wealthy he was not alone, after the fearful panic of 1847. As
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APPENDIX.
327
a printseller, Gale had an excellent connection, and published several
engravings, one of Heaton Park Races, under the patronage of the
Earl of Wilton. He also published a most excellent engraved portrait
of John Wells (Wells, Cooke, and Potter). But he was better known
for his sparkling wit, his humour, his drollery, which were inimitable.
He was always welcome at the ' feast of reason and the flow of soul.'
He was once a good singer, but his voice failed him, and I remember
he once said (on being asked) that he did not feel well, and perceived
that his memory was failing him. He forgot to go home at nights.
Gale had no fancy for dogs, and was never considered an intemperate
man. He was acceptable to the learned Condy on account of his
classical inclinations and general intelligence. I remember there was
a Mr. Gale about that time who, as I am told, was in business as a
maker-np, callenderer, or packer. He was fond of greyhounds and
coursing ; but whether he, to use the expression, * coursed away all his
substance* I know not."
[The Mr. Gale here referred to was Mr. Robert Gale, of the firm of
Gale and Mayor, who lived 50 years ago in Chapel Walks, and
whose works were close by in Back Pool Fold.]
Mr. D. W. Banks, page 103.— The following is from Mr. J. Hulme i
"Mr. D. W. Banks was a great favourite of mine, and I believed at
one time there was no one equal to him as a musician and conductor of
concerts, such as those I well remember him conducting at the popular
Monday evening concerts in the Old Free Trade Hall, under what I
consider now to have been very great difficulties, for he had to be con-
ductor and accompanist both in one — sometimes on the organ, and
sometimes on the pianoforte, according to the nature of the piece to be
performed. There was no band then, the prices of admission being so
low that a band was out of the question. The best seats were only
one shilling, the second seats or gallery sixpence, and all the rest three-
pence — truly working-class prices. Programmes were printed every
week with the whole of the words of the pieces, and were sold at a
penny. I have a small number of them now in my possession, in-
cluding four oratorios, the 'Messiah,' the 'Creation,' 'Elijah,' and
' Israel in Egypt.' I can spend an hour very agreeably now and then
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328 APPENDIX.
looking over these old programmes, and calling to mind who sang such
and such pieces, and the impression I had at the time about each of
them. Mr. Banks encouraged and brought out as much as he possibly
could at these concerts the local talent, which he was quick to discern,
and, when found, he put to the fore. He did not entirely depend on
local talent, however, but had help sometimes from the neighbouring
county of Yorkshire, such as Mrs. Sunderland and others. I think it
need not be recounted the number of Christmas days that Mr. D. W.
Banks produced Handel's masterpiece, the "Messiah," which practice
is worthily continued by an able successor, Mr. De Jong. I fully
believe that the late D. W. Banks, and the popular Monday evening
concerts at the old Free Trade Hall, effectually prepared the way for
Mr. Charles Hall^ and the now famous Thursday evening concerts at
the new Free Trade Hall, and that it is a misfortune for the working
classes of Manchester and Salford that the opportunity for hearing
really good music at a working-class rate is lost to them through the
want of a sufficiently large room at little cost and another talented and
energetic conductor like Mr. David Ward Banks. An incident came
under my observation when Mr. Banks was oiganist at St. Thomas's
Church, Pendleton. When he first went to St. Thomas's, the church-
wardens had only a small hired oigan with six stops, which, as may be
supposed, did not quite satisfy the rising ambitions of Mr. D. W. B.,
nor the churchwardens either, one of whom was the late Jeremiah Royle,
a warm supporter of music in Manchester, and a friend of the late
John Isherwood and Mr. Wilkinson, the organist, both connected with
St. Peter's choir, Manchester, at the time. Efforts were accordingly
made, and a new oigan obtained, I think from Wren and Boston, and
it was set up and announced by placard to be opened on a certain
day, and that the then leading organist of the day would preside —
Mr. Wilkinson. This did not suit Mr. Banks, who was now a rising
young man, so he rebelled, and a new arrangement had to be made,
fresh placards printed and posted, which said that the new organ
would be opened on such a day, and that Mr. David Ward Banks
would preside — and he did, Mr. Wilkinson coming a short time after-
wards to test the instrument On the opening day several singers came
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APPENDIX.
329
fzx>m Manchester to assist the r^^ular choir, which consisted of a £unily
from Pendlebury — father, son, daughter, and nephew. Miss Cord well,
the daughter, was a beautiful singer, and Mr. B. was proud of her. In
the evening more assistants came, and one or two of them pushed past
Miss Cordwell (who was very diminutive) to the place of honour next
to the organist. Mr. B. ordered them away, and Miss C. to come to
her own place."
John Law, page 201.— Mr. Robert Wood, of Cheetham Hill,
says : ''Allow me to supplement Mr. Slugg's interesting reminiscences
by a few additional particulars respecting the Law family. David Law,
the &ther of the celebrated John or Jack Law, kept the Bowling Green
Hotel,, in Strangeways. This hotel was perhaps a hundred yards be-
yond the Ducie Arms, and together with the green ran back to the
river. I believe it was kept most if not all its time by David Law and
his widow and their son David. After Mrs. Law was a widow she be-
came very celebrated for making veal pies, and it was then usuaUy
known as the Veal Pie House, and is still well remembered by several
old men who, when they were boys attending the Grammar School,
would often go into the country, as they then called it, to fetch a veal
pie for dinner. Through the kindness of a friend I have in my posses-
sion at present a subscriber's ticket, well got up and in good preserva-
tion, which reads as follows : —
Strangeways New Bowling Green. Subscription (roin May the 5th to October 37,
X788, Thursdays excepted, zos. 6d. Not transferable. No. a.
/ MiCHL. Norton.
Proprietors
Jambs Msrbdith.
Thomas Crallan.
William Mayall.
David Law.
This bowling green is now covered with streets and buildings ; but
perhaps it would be interesting to state a few particulars relating to
the gentlemen named above. Michl. Norton was the agent of Sir
Oswald Mosley, and collected his rents. James Meredith was the uncle
of Mr. Meredith, law stationer in King Street. Thomas Crallan was
a brewer living at Ardwick, and was succeeded by his son, who
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330
APPENDIX,
became a wealthy man and left the neighbourhood more than half
a century ago, William Mayall was an ironmonger in Cateaton Street
David Law, as I have before named, was the landlord. William Mayall
began business as an ironmonger in Cateaton Street in the year 1745,
and it was continued by him till the year 1797. It was then trans-
ferred to Hutchinson and Mallalieu till 1827, and was afterwards con-
tinued by Mallalieu and Lees to 1837, then Lees and Lister, then Lees
alone, Lees' executors, and is now Leech Brothers. So that the same
business has been conducted on the same premises for the last hundred
and thirty-four years.
The Post Office, page 202.— Although the following refers to a
date much anterior to that of the preceding Reminiscences — it will
be found very interesting as giving an authentic account of the
Manchester Post Office 160 years ago. It is an extract from the
Fourth Annual Report of the Postmaster-General, published in
1858, and was kindly communicated to me at the last moment by
Mr. W. Clarke, the Postmaster of Worthing. The Mr. Eldershaw
mentioned is the same gentleman named previously on page 204.
The Extract is given verbatim.
Extract from a Report by Mr. Gay.
**As a contrast to the Manchester of the present time, with its
three London mails every day, its almost hourly communication with
Liverpool, and its two or more posts with all the surrounding towns,
I beg to append this copy of a Manchester postal bill dated 1721,
for which I am indebted to Mr. Eldershaw of the Manchester
Post Office.
' At Manchester
* According to the last regulation, 172 1.
The Post goes out
*To London, &c., or to any ) Monday \
of the towns in or near > Wednesday > Morning 9 o'clock,
the road to London j Saturday j
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APPENDIX. 331
*ToWarrmgton
Chester
Worcester
Mondays \
Bristol
Thursdays V Morning 7 o'clock.
Ireland
Saturdays j
Liverpool
• Note. It will be best to bring the letters the night
Preston
before the going out of the post, because the
Lancaster
accounts and baggs are usually made up over
Kendal
night.
Carlisle
Dumfries. &c.
•To Roachdale \ Sundays \
Yorkshire \ Tuesdays > Morning 6 or 7 o'clock.
Edinbro', &c. ) Fridays )
The Post comes in.
*From London, &c.
* From Warrington
' From Roachdale, &c.
/ Mondays
< Thursdays
( Saturdays
f Tuesdays
< Fridays
C Sundays
/ Mondays
< Wednesdays
( Saturdays
* Night 9, 10, II, 12, or, &c.
> Morning 6 or 7.
Morning 8.*
"It is amusing to observe that the post is said to come in from
London three days per week at night 9, 10, 1 1, 12, or, &c The
beautiful uncertainty as to the hour leads one to surmise that an
Inspector-General of Mails did not exist in those days.
" Then, again, the simplicity with which some clerk, having an eye
to his own comfort, entreats the public to bring their letters the
night before, because *the accounts and baggs are usually made up
over night,' is at sad variance with the existing regulations of the
Department through which letters can be posted up to within fve
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332
APPENDIX.
minutes of the dispatch of a mail, and which provide for the receipt
of letters for America up to within ten minutts of the stttliug of the
packet.
** Whether the manufacturers of Manchester would listen to such
a gentle entreaty in the present day, even if it were more correctly
written, is extremely doubtiuL"
Mr. William Garnett.— Mr. David Kelly thinks "it is
scarcely accurate to say (page 252) that Mr. Garnett, of Lark Hill,
' so often unsuccessfully opposed Joseph Brotherton as a candidate for
parliamentary honours.' These gentlemen were only thrice pitted
against each other, viz., in 1832, 1837, and 1841. On the second
occasion the poll stood thus : —
Brotherton 890
Garnett 888
Majority 2
And as Mr. Brotherton voted for himself, and Mr. Garnett abstained
from voting, there was not much room for either boasting or wailing.
On the first counting of the votes, the returning officer gave Mr. Garnett
a majority of six, and that gentleman was addressing his supporters on
his success, in the grounds at Lark Hill, when a messenger arrived
with the news that there was an error in the first counting, and that
Mr. Garnett had lost the election by two votes."
ERRATUM.
Mr. Heap's Grand-daughter.— At page 70 it is said : " I under-
stand that Mrs. Pochin, the wife of the M.P., is the grand-daughter"
of the Mr. Heap there mentioned. The author r^ets to say that he
has been misinformed on the subject.
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OBITUARY.
No less than the following eight persons, named in the
preceding pages, have departed this life since these lines first
appeared in print : —
Mr. Thomas Slagg, mentioned on page 21, a younger hrother of
the late Mr. John Slagg. He had retired from business, and had
resided at Lytham for many years. I knew him well, and before his
leaving Manchester, was very intimate with him. He was a friendly
and somewhat jovial man.
Miss Geraldine £. Jewsbury, the novelist, named on page 65,
died on the 23rd of September, 1880.
The Lady referred to on page 82, as possessing a Bible and Prayer
Book purchased at the shop of Mr. Charles Ambery. She died
August 9th, 1880, aged 65 years. Whilst she lived, she took great
interest in the production of these Reminiscences, and, had she been
spared, would have been gratified in seeing their completion in their
present shape.
Mr. Thomas Roworth, bookseller, of St. Ann's Square,
mentioned page 85, died January 13th, 1881, aged 65 years, having
been bom on the day on which the battle of Waterloo was fought.
He was greatly respected by all who knew him.
Mr. Edward Goodall, carpet dealer. King Street. He originally
came from Heckmondwike, more than fifty years ago, and established
a verjr extensive business, in the shop which still retains his name, H^
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334
OBITUARY.
had been a teetotaler the greater part of his life, and died a bachelor,
at more than eighty years of age, at his residence at Sale, having been
a friend of mine for more than forty years.
Miss Elizabeth Ronchetti, (page 98,) eldest daughter of
Mr. Joshua Ronchetti, a maker of hydrometers, &c., next door to the
shop in which I was an apprentice and afterwards an assistant.
After living in Salford for many years, she latterly went to reside at
Southport, where she died in 1880.
The Rev. WiLLiAM KiDD, incumbent of Didsbury, and formerly of
St. Matthew's Church, (page 126,) was killed at Didsbury Railway
Station, through incautiously stepping out of the train before it had
stopped, on the 18th of December, 1880.
The Rev. Dudley Jackson, rector of St. Thomas*, Heaton
Chapel, (page 126,) died during the year 1880.
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INDEX.
Abbey, Mark, 154
Abinger, Lord, 284
Abrahams, Rev. A., 192
Academy, Manchester, 261
„ Blackburn, 131
Accidents, Coach, 215, 218, 269
Accounts' Committee, 236
Acres Fair, 13
Acton, 133
Addison, 39
Advertiser^ Manchester ^ 277, 282
Agnew & Zanetti, 97
Agricultural Society, 267
Ainsworth, James, 51, 249, 264, 266
„ W. H., 171
„ Crossley, & Sudlow, 197
„ Sykes& Co., 30
„ T. & D., 133
Air Balloon, 249
Airy (Ast Royal), 314
Albion Hotel, 222, 310
Alcock, Ann, 258
Alcock, Samuel, 173
Aldis, Rev. John, 187
Alexander, 146
Allan, Caradori, 3cx>, 302
Allen, 19, 165
Ambery, Ch., 81, 88
Amusements, Public, 307
Ancoats Chapel, 166
AndertorCs Universal Advertiser,2*jZ
Andrew, R., 236
Andrews, 75, 76
„ Henry, 203
,, Miss, 81
Angel Yard, 287
Ansel], 68, 184
Anti-Com-Law Agitation, 29, 139,
289. 290, 314
Anti- Slavery Agitation, 182
Argus, 280
Arkwright, Sir R., 93
Armitage, Sir Elkanah, and family,
92» "3. I33» i39» 236
Armitage, Elijah, 132
Arnold, Henry, 298
Arrival of Mails, 211
Ashton, Rev. Jos., 178
„ Dr. & Father, 52, 175
Ashworlh, Samuel, 293
Assandri, 300
Assembly Rooms, 10, 271, 305
Assize Courts, 113
Aston, Joseph, 280, 281
„ J. P. & Ed., 197
M W. P., 89
Athenaeum, 271
Atherton, Rev. William, 159, 161
Atkin, Eli, 60, 69, 153, 154
Atkinson & Barker, 61
„ & Birch, 3, 200
„ Street, I2
,, Thomas, 186
Atomic Theory, 107
Attmore, Rev. Charles, 159
Attorneys, 195
Attwood's Cor. Anth., 3cx>
Aubrey, 273
Austrsdia, 199
Author's Brother, 25
Autographs of Queen, &c, 314
Auxilium, 232
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336
INDEX.
Back Square, 13
Baxter, Ed, 175
Bailey, Charles and J/ E., 131 *
Bayley, Rev. Cornelius, 121
„ T. B., 256
Bake, James, 99, 112
Bazley, Thomas, 236
Baker, 313 ^
,, J. G., 16s
Beadles, Police^ 237
Beale, Thomas, 303
Bakers, Buxton, 100
Bealey, Mary, 42, 149, 161
BaU (Dr. M'AlPs), 141,143
„ Richard, 42
„ & Co., 41
Balloon Ascent, 312
Ballantyne, Thomas, 289
BaUy, William, 109
Beard, Miss M., 258
„ Rev. J. R., 176
BalmofGUead, 280
Beardoe, James, 270
Bamford, 274
Beardsall, Rev. F., 139
Bancks & Co., 85
Beatson, Joseph. 292
Banks, Dr., 47, 49
Beaufort, J. SL L., 203
„ D. W., 103, 298, 308, 327
Beaumont, G., 133
„ Isabella, 324
Beauvoisin, Amand^ 103
Bann, 118
Beaver Hats, 316
Bannerman, 7, 10, 238
Becker, 5
Baptist Chapels, 187
Bee Hive Restaurant, 83
Bardsley, Dr. J. L., 47, 249, 268
Beer Houses, 113
„ S. A., 47, 302
Beef Steak Chape!, 194
Barge, T. & Co., 32
„ John, 267
Beever, J., 266
Behrens, 10
„ Robert, 137
Bellhouse, 44, 236
Barker, Robert, 185
Bennett, Abraham, 270
Barley Meal, 95
„ 150, 300
Barlow, John, 236
„ Miss, 298
,, J., 148
Benson, James, 266
,, Richard, 148, 149
„ Rev. J., 151
Bamby, Faulkner, & Co., 224
Bent, Ed., 196
Barnes, Robt., 162, 163, 165
„ The Misses. 87
Barnes', Robert, Mother, 165
Bent's Literary Advertiser, 87
„ Thos., 163
Bentham, 86
„ Rev. Dr., 171, 260
Bentley, J., 238
Barratt, J. & S., 95
Berrie, Jno., 154
Barrett, James, 197
Beswick, Chas., 165
Barristers, 195
Beverley, H., 311
Barrow, Peter, 266
Bianchi, 98
„ William, 273
Bible Society, 253
Barry, Ch., 126, 270
Bickham, 136
Barton, John & Henry, 85
Billington, Rev. J., 38, 189
M S., 52
Binney, Rev. T., 140
Basnett, Rev. R., 119
Binyon, Alfred, 184
Bateman, W., 258
„ Ancestors, 93
„ Benjamin, 83, 186
Baths, Infirmary, 9
Battle, Murder, 45
„ T. andE., 93, 184,236
Paumann, 301
„ Sisters, 18$
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INDEX.
337
Birch, Scholes, 173
Bradbury, Ch., 95, 267
Birchin Lane Chapd, 149
,; Robert, 102
Birley, H. H.. 236. 269
Rev. D., 129, 130
„ Workpeople, 292
Bradley, 73.
Birt, Rcv.T., 187,254
Bishop of Chester, 117, 255
„ Rev. S., 124, 130. 134
„ S. M., 130
„ London, 311
Bradshaw, 184
Bishop's " Seventh Day," 300
John, 137, 186, 236
Black-a-Moor's Head, 14
Braham, 300^ 304
BUckberd, G., 64
Braid, James» 51
Blackbume, Rev. Dr., 07
Braidlcy, Benjamin, 20, 236,254
Isaac, 117, 196
Braik, Alexander, 154
Blackburn Academy, 131
Bramall, 254
Black Horse, 292
Bramwell, Rev. Wm., 159
„ Mare, 292
Brandram, Rev. A., 254
„ Friar's Bridge, 15, 106, 148
Bnmdt, 195
Breach of Promise, 200
Blackley Chapel, 179
BUine, Hy.. 71
Bread Riot, 95
Bland, Lady Ann, 118
Breary, William, 63
Breeches, Knee, 317
Bleachers, 41
Blears, Joseph, 309
Brereton, J., 63
Blmkhom, 273
Brewer, John, 25, 162
„ Mary, 162
Bridge AccidAit, 15 .
Blood-letting, 58, 303
Bloor, 8, 49
Blundstone, 51-269
„ Street Shambles, 274
Boats, Passage, 223
Bridges, I, 15
Bob Logic's Budget, 113
Bridgewater Arms, 7
Boddington, T. and H., 137
„ Street Chapel, 162
Bolongaro, D., 97
Brierley James, 150, 196
Bolton Street Chapel, 194
„ Sam, 121
Bond, 271
Bright, John, 29 .
British Volunteer, 280
Bonded Warehouses, 113 .
Bonnets, 318
Brittain, Thomas» 45
Booth, G. & H., 133
Broadhurst, Henson, & Co., 20 '
„ Humphrey, 118
„ Rev. E., 124
Brockbank, 185
Brogden, Alexander, 105
M >, S., 119
„ John, 105, 154
Bromley, Mary, 149
Boroughreeve (1829), 238
Botanical Gardens, 113
Brooks, Frederick, 30
„ Society, 266
„ John, 28, 236
„ Sam.. 10, 28, 105, 133,
Boulton & Watt, 242
„ Wm., 184
236,254
Boundary Street, 12
Broome, 93
Boutflower, 49, 268
Broomhead, Rev. R., 189
Bower, Alexander, 240
Brotherton, Joseph, 30, 192, 193
„ Miles, 248
284, 332
Bowling Green, 263
Brougham, Lord, 222, 265
Bradbum, Rev, S., 151
Broughton Bridge, 15
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338 INDEX.
Brown, Capt, i8
Caradori Allan, 300, 302
„ Dr. Henry, 143
Carbutt, Dr., 323
„ G. B., 70
Card, Nat., 185
„ W. S., 66, 68
Cardwell, Hy., 200
Carlisle, Earl of, 311
„ Street, 258
Brownbill, Thomas, 53
Carlton, Jas., 24, 145.
„ Walker, & Lewis, 24
Bnindretts, The^ 168
Buck, Thomas, 298
Carriages (First Rail), 234
Buckland, Rev. G., 178
Carriers (Land and Water), 223, 225
Buckley, Edward, 237
Carpenter, Rev. P. P., 180
„ Jeremiah, 200
Building Societies, 292
Carter, Wm., 166
Carver, 174, 224
Bull, Rev. G. S., 254
Casartelli, 98
Bullbaiting, 310
Casinos, 308
Bullock, 63, 64 [164
Cassell, Jno., 138
Casson 4 Berry's Map, 272
Bunting, Rev. Jabez, 151, 157, 160,
Bunting, Rev. William, 136, 167
Castle Irwell, 16
„ T. P., 166, 199
Cateaton Street, 14
Burd, Aid., 133. 165
Catholic Phetnix, 281
Burdett, Sir Francis, 312
Cathrall, Wm., 280, 288
Burdsall, Rev. J., 152
Cave, Geo., 89
Burgess, Henry, 281
Cemetery, Friends', 181
Burial Grounds, 161, 168
Chain Bridge, 15
Burton & Sons, 34, 125
Challender, Joseph, 14, 267
„ John, 34, 254
„ Rev. Dr., 34, 35, 124
Chalmers, Dr., 189
Chamber of Commerce, 272
Bury, F., 269
Chancery Lane Chapel, 164
M J., 39
Chantilly House, 6
Butter Market, 274
Chapel, Ancoats, 166
Butterworth & Brooks, 17, 28
„ Baptist, 187
Bye-Law Men, 241
„ . Beef Steak, 192
Byrom, Ed., 120
„ Birchin Lane, 149
„ John, 121. 147, 309
.„ House, 129
„ Blackley, 179
„ Bridgewater Street, 162
„ Miss, 254
„ Cannon Street, 128, 130
„ Chancery Lane, 164
„ Chapel Street, 144
Calico Printers, 27
Callender, W. R., 17, 136, 137
„ Cheetham Hill, 168
„ S. P., 137
„ Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 167
„ & Sons, 163
„ Christ Church, 192, 193
Calvert, Chas., 73
„ Cross Street, 170
„ Rev. Dr., 10, 117, 255
„ Dawson's Croft, 176
Campbell, 314
„ Dobb Lane, 178
Campion, H., 259
„ Gadsby's, 187
Cannon Street, 19
,, Gorton, 178
„ „ Chapel, 128, 130
„ Gravel Lane, 161
Capes, 18, loi
,, Grosvenor Street (W^es-
Caracd, A., 120
leyan), 164
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INDEX.
339
Chapel, Grosvenor Street (Inde-
pendent), 131
Chapels, Independent, lo^ 128
Chapel, Irwell Street, 157
„ Jackson Street, Holme, 144
„ Lee Street, 146
„ Monton, 179
„ Mosley Street (Indepen-
dent), 10, 135
„ Mosley Street (Unitarian),
10^ 175
„ Oldham Street, 121, 136,
150, 15s
„ Oxford Road, 166
„ Piatt, 176
„ Presbvterian (Lloyd Street)
„ Quakers, 53, 181
Chapels, Roman Catholic, 189
Chapel, Rusholme Road, 143
„ Stand, 180
„ Swan Street, 163
Chapels, Unitarian, 10^ 170
„ Various, 181
„ Wesleyan, 147
Chapel, Windsor Bridge, 145
Chapman, James, 197, 273, 281
Chappell, G. R., 18, 25, 165^ 166
Charitable Institutions, 247
Charles, Prince, 5, 278
"Charleys," 239
Checkley, Rev. J., 178
Cheek, Rev. N., 124
Cheeirble Brothers, 36
Cheetham, James, 5, 81
„ Hill, 14
„ „ Chapel, 168
Cheetham 's Murder, 310
Chemistry, Lecture on, 265
Cheshire Circuit, 150
Chester Road, 12
„ Coach, 219
Chetham's Statue, 99
Chew, 2CX>
Christie, Robert, 270
„ J. T., 271
Choral Society, 297, 298
Chorlton, Rev. Wm., 171
„ Row, 12
Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chapel, 167
Christ Church Chapels, 192
ChronicUy Manchester^ 80, 277
279, 282, 286
Church and King Mob, no
Club, 279
Churches of England, 115
Church, All Saints, 124
„ St. Ann's, 118
„ „ Andrew's, 127
,, „ Clement's, 123
,, Collegiate, 116
„ St. George's, 124
„ „ „ (Hulme), 127
„ „ James, 121
„ „ John's, 120, 142
„ „ Luke's, 124
„ „ Mark's, 123
„ „ Mary's, 119
„ „ Matthew's, 126
,, „ Michael's, 122
„ „ Paul's, 119
„ „ Peter's, 122
„ „ Philip's, 126
,, „ Stephen's, 124
„ „ Thomas' (Ardwick), 1 18
„ „ „ (Pendleton), 121
,, Trinity, 118
Circuit, Cheshire, 150
„ First Manchester, 150
„ Grosvenor Street, 167
„ Oldham Street, 153
„ Oxford Road, 167
Clare, Peter, 107, 143, 184, 262, 264
Clark, 2
Clarke, Dr. Adam, 151,153,169,256
„ Rev. James, 193
„ J. B., 136
„ Robert, 75, 312.
Class Meetings, 166
Clayton, 121, 147
Clegg, 129
Clergymen's dress, 316
Clock, Lit. and Phil. Society, 107
Clowes, Rev. J. (St. John's), 120,
192, 254.
Clowes, Rev. J.(Collegiate Church),
117,118,255.
Clunie, Rev. Dr., 145
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INDEX.
Coadi Accidents, 215, 269
Com Exchange and Market, 274
„ Offices, 210
„ Laws, 29, 139
„ Defiance, 212
Coroner, 113, 197
„ Doctor. 214
Corporation Street, 5
„ Lord Nelson, 219
Cottam, S. E., 270
„ Mail, 211, 212
Courur, MamhisUr, 277, 281, 290,
„ Peveril of Peak, 212
291
„ Red Rover, 213
Court of Requests, 7
„ Telegraph, 212
Cowdroy & Rathbone, 281
Coaches, Stage, 209
Cowdroy's ManchesUr GazdU, 283,
„ Liverpool, 214
288
„ on May Day, 220
Cowherd, Rev. William, 192
„ Opposition, 216
Cramer F., 301
Sundry, 219
Crewdson, Isaac, 184, 186, 254
Coachman's Fees, 215
Jos.,Thos., and Wilson,
Coats, 317
184
Coates, Richard, 200
Crighlon, Thomas, 143
Cobbett, William, 312
Crompton, Joshua, 184
Cobden, Richard, 29, 109
Crook; Rev. James, 189, 303
„ Miss, 314
Cropper, Rev. Jno., 180
Cockbain, J. H., 184, 263
Cockfighting, 310
Cock Gates, 51
Crossfield, Joseph, 185
Crossley, 181
„ James, 197
„ Pit Hill, 89, 310
„ George, 240, 257
Cockshoot, 93
Cross Lane Market, 273
Collars, Shirt, 317
Cross Street Chapel, 170
College of Physicians, 262
Crow Alley, 272
„ Independent, 131, 132, 138
Crowther, Mrs., 160
Collinson, 185
„ Joshua, 160, 198
Colour Blindness (Dalton), 262
„ Robert, 54
Commercial Inn, 7
Cudmore, Richard, 103, 298
Commissioners of Police, 236
Cumber, Charles, 185
Concert Hall, 1 1, 113, 271 , 297
Cunliffe, R. E., 200
Concerts, Weekly, 308
Cunliifes, Brooks, & Co., 4
Condy, George, 74, 195, 282
Coningham, Rev. J., 171
Cupid's Alley, 12, 181
Currie, Dr.,260
Consistory Court, 303
Cutting, Charles, 143
Constables, 237, 238
Constantine, Thomas, 293
Dale, 68
Cook, John, 64
„ Rev. Mr., 166
„ Rev. J., 118
„ John, 160
Cooke, 301
Dallas, John, 257
„ Rev. R., 120, 257
Cooke & Beever, 200
Coombs, Rev. J. A., 144, 254, 255
Dalton, Dr., 106, 184, 260, 262,
Cooper, Frederick, 102
268
„ L, J., & G., 22
Damages, Heavy, 200
„ Thomas, 279
Danson, George, 68, 184
Corbett, Matthew & Ed., 185, 186
Darbishire, James, 173, 174, 279
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INDEX^
341
Daibyshire & Ca, 6
Danbholes, 248
Davies, Rev. R. M., 137, 139
„ Aid., 159
M John, 262, 265, 268
Dawson, 120, 261
„ Jonathan, 269
Dawson Street, 361
Dawson's Croft Chapel, 176
Day, 270
Dean, Rev. A., iSo
„ R. W., 79, 89
» S., 67
Deansgate, 12
De Beriot, 301
Debates, Parliamentary, 276
Dentists, C9
Dentith, Wm., 3, 30, 70, 154
Derby, Earl of, 310
" Descent from Cross " (picture), 120
Detrosier, 271
Dickenson Street, 10
'•Dictum Factum," 11 x
Dinner Hour, 46
Diorama, 182I
Dispensaries, 252
Districts, Police, 235
Dixon, Elijah, 88
Dobb Lane Chapel, 178
Dockray, D., 184
Doctors, 47, 323
"Doctor, The, ;^ 280
Dog and Partridge, 256
Dolly Rexford, 112
Doncaster Races, 112
Downs, John, 161
Dowton, 75, 313
Dowty, Rev. Thos., 157
Dracup, 145
Dragonetti, 304
Dress, 316
Druggists, 60
Drummond, Peter, 24, 160
Drunkenness, 319
Diysalters, 42, 43
Ducie Bridge, 14, 15
Duck, Robt., 19, 241
Duckers, Peter, 156
Duckworth, Ellis, 99
„ & Co., 2CX>
„ William, 175
Dugard, Rev. Geo., 127
Dugdale, Tno., 30, 31, 50
Duke of Wellington, 228
„ James, 159
Dunckley, Hy., 290
Dunn, Rev. Sam., 152
Duty on Prints, 27
EarlofWaton, 255
Easby, John, 113
Eccles, Cririe, & Slater, 195
„ Wakes, 310
Edge, Joseph, 145
Edwards, John and James, 137
Edmondson, Thomas, 183
Eland, 240
Elastics, 318 .
Eldershaw, 204
Ely, Rev. John, 140, 141
Ellerby, William, 84, 139
„ W. P., 137
Elliott, Ebenezer, 314
Elliotson, Dr., 314
Elsdale, Rev. Robert, 257
** Emma," Capsizing of, 137
England, Joseph, 154
Entwistle, William, ii
Envelope, Postage, 208
Erskine, no
Ethelslone, Rev. C. W., 117, 123,
196
Evangelical Friends, 186
Evans, T. J., 87
Eveleigh, S. & Jf., 184
Evening Sun, 276
Everett, Rev. James, 6, 77, 151
Ewart, Peter, 175, 262
„ Joseph, 303
Examiner and Times, 289
Exchange, 272
„ Herald, 281
Eye Institution, 251
Fairbairn, Sir William, 174
Fancy Dress Ball, 5, 6, 13, 30I
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342
INDEX.
Fares by Rail, 232
Farmer, Mrs. T., 155
Faulkner, 224, 279
„ & Son, 59
„ Street, 10
Fawdington, 53, 268
Felt Hats, 316
Female Penitentiary, 253
Fennel Street, 14
Femley, Geoige, 54
„ John, II, 166, 184
Ferrier, Dr. John, 260
•*Festus,"Bayley'8, 90
Fielden, R., 196
Fielding, Rev. H., 255
Fildes, John, 32, 137
„ Us. & Thos., 96, 154, 254
„ Thos., 96, 149
Finance Committee, 236
Finch, Rev. — , 177
Fish Market, 274
Fleming, Thos., 106, 236, 243, 266,
281
Fletcher, Burd, & Wood, 20, 133
„ Mrs., 65
„ J. & Co., 94
„ Sam., 21, 236, 254
„ „ Son, & Co., 133
„ David, 133, 139
,, Auctioneer, 308
FlintoflF, 185
Floral and Horticultural Society,
267
Fly Sheets, 153
Ford, John, 286
Forrest, 80, 286
Fort Bros., 29
Forth, Hy., 137, 236
Foster, Rev. Jno., 314
„ J. F., 10, 195, 19^. 240
Foulkes, Ed., 8, 201
Fountain Street, 21
Fowden, 185
Fowler, Rev. Joseph, 151
„ H. H., M.P., 151
Fox, Geo., 181
„ Susannah, 259
Freckleton, Dr., 268
Free Trade Hall, 11
Freeston, Rev. J., 179
Friar, Geo. Hv., 94
Friends' Meeting House, 181
„ Cemetery, 181
„ Secession o( 186
Frog^att, 292
Fumiss, Micah, 100
Furniture Removing, 321
Gadsby, Rev. W., 187, 188
GadsbVs Chapel, 187
Gale, Joseph, 98, 326
Galor, Wm., 9, 249
Galloway and Bowman, 102
Garbutt, Dr, 249
Gardner, Lot, 74
Gardom, 53
Gamett, Jeremiah, 5, 11, 80, 236,
285, 286
Gamett, William, 252, 269, 332
Garside, 231
Gas, 242, 244
Gaskell, Rev. J., 193
„ Wm., 172
„ Mrs., 172
Gasquoine, 145
Gatcliflfe, Rev. John, 117, 119
Gaulter, J. W., 65, 71
„ Rev. John, 65, 151
Gazette^ Manchester^ 2rn
Gearey and Home, 1 01
George and Dragon, 66, 82
„ Street, 10
Gentlemen's Glee Club, 297
Germon, Rev. N., 122, 257
Gibb, Wm., 93
Gibson, Rev. N. W., 118
Gillow, Rev. Henry, 38, 189, 190
"Gimcrackiana," 43, 82, 83
Gladstone, W. £., 22
Glasgow, 236
Gleave, Joseph, 2, 83
Glee Club, 297
Goadsby, Francis, 63
Goodall, Ed., 91, 144, 333
Goodier, 185
Goodwin, S., 135
Digitized by
Google
INDEX.
343
Gore, Rev. W., 171
Gorton Chapel, 178
Gough, John, 260, 264
Government of Town, 235
Grafton, F. W., M.P., 136
Granby Row Chapel, 190
Grant, Daniel, 10, 35, 39, 256
„ William and Bros., 35
Gravel Lane Chapel, 161
Gray, Luke, 165
Greaves, Ed., 271
„ John, 196
„ Geoiige, 19
„ Hugh. 19, 154
Greenwood, John, 108
» 284
„ Turner, & Clongh, 109
Greg,R. H., 175, 269
Gregory, 298
„ Rev. B., 147
Gregson, J. S., 43, 82
Greswell, Ch., 51
„ Rev.W.P.,51
Griffin, Rev. James, 143
Griffiths, John, 133
Grindrod, 54
„ Rev. Edmund, 151
Grosvenor Place, 12
Grosvenor-st. Chapel, (Indep.), 131
M t» (Weshi.), 164
Grundy, C. S., 176
„ George, 166
„ Rev. John, 172
„ & Fox, 97
Guard of Mail, 212
,, Telegraph, 212
„ Lord Nelson, 219
Guard's Fees, 215
Guardian^ Manchester^ 277, 282,
286, 291
Guardian Of&cc, 5
Guest, W. E., 250, 268
„ Rev. W. B., 257
Guest's Mill, 238
Gwyther, Rev. James, 144
Hackney Coaches, 245
Hadfield, George, 84, 137, 143,
198.254
»> Jai
„ Jol
,. Ph
Hadfield, John, 30
Hadley, Bob, 218.
Haigh, Job, 112
Hale & Roworth, 85
Hall, Rev. Sam, 122
Mrs. Frances, 257
Eames, 184, 267
ohn, 173
^latt, 177
„ Strangeways, 134
Halle's Concerts, 308
Halley, Rev. Dr., 129, 131
Halliwell, John, 258
Hamilton, Rev. Dr., 140
„ Gavin, 54
Hampson, John, 282
R., I3»
Hanging, 310
Hanley, William, 292
Hannah, Rev. Dr., 167
Harbottle, Thomas, 136, 137, 238
Hardman, Thomas, 255
,, Street, 12
Hardy, Joseph, 165
Haigreaves, R. H., 64, 67
Harland, Dr., 50
„ John, 287
Harper, 301, 305
Harris, Rev. Dr., 140
Harrison, Rev. Ralph, 171
„ „ WUliam, 179
„ Thomas, 94
„ John, 154
„ Mary, 259
1, ,, & Co., 100
„ William, 267
Harrop, Joseph, 277
„ James, 202
Hats, 316
Hatton, William, 74
Haughton, Rev. — , 178
Hawks, Rev. Ed., 259
Hawkes, Rev. William, 175
Hawkshaw, Sir John, 145
Haworth, John) 9
„ Richard, 162
Haymarket, 274
Haynes, William, 236
Hayward's Hotel, 256, 297
Digitized by
Google
344
INDEX.
Heap, 70^ 122, 332
Heame, Rev. Daniel, 38, 189, 190
Heaton Park Races, 310
Hedley, Atkinson & Co., 35
Heelis, Stephen, 195
Helsby, W
Henry, Alexander, M.P.,
173
Dr., 6, 17s, 249, a62, 265,
266,269
„ Thomas, 260, 261
Henry's Magnesia, 262
Henson, Robert, 158, 165
Hepworth, Rev. A., 124, 254
Herald, The, 277
Herford, Rev. Brooke, 176
Heron, J. H., 136, 254
Sir Joseph, 136
Herschel, Sir William, 152
Hesketh, 95
Heurtley, 54
Hewley, Lady, 84
Heyhurst, 166
Heywood, Abel, 173
„ Benjamin, M.^., 1 73, 262
„ James, 173
High Street, 17
Higson, Bagshaw, & Co., 200
Hill, 7
„ William & John, 92, 160
Hime & Hargreaves, 92
Hinde's Charity, 113
Hindley, Robert, 76, 266, 269
Hindmarsh, Rev. — ,194
History of England, 278
Holland, F. W., 177
HoUingworth, Rev. R., 128
Holme, Dr. ,48, 173, 262, 264, 266,
269, 273
Holt, David, 7, 185, 269
„ John, 133
Holy Club, 147
Hopkins, Thomas, 236, 270
Hopkinsons, The, 143
Hopper, Rev. C, 148
Hopps, Ann and John, 5, 86
Hopwood Avenue, 288
Hook, Rev. Dr., 127
Hookers-In, 43, 44
Hoole, Rev. — , 147
Hordem, Rev. Peter, 123, 255,
257, 266
Home, Rev. Melville, 124, 255 .
Horrocks, 293
Hoite, Rev. C. D., 178
Hospital Sunday (1792), 249
„ St Mary's, 250
„ Lying In, 250
„ Lock, 252
Hotel, Mitre, 268
„ Spread Eagle, 274
Hough End Hall, 275
Houldsworth, Thomas, 8, 309
„ Henry, 175
Howarth, Rev. D., 194
Howe, Wm., 269
Hoyle, Lucy, 93
„ Thos., 184, 267
„ „ & Son, 31^ 40
Hughes, 63
„ Moses, 103, 142, 298
„ Thos., 132
Hull, Dr., 48
„ John, 154
Hulme, 12
Huhne, Dr. D., 48, 249, 258, 269
„ Otho & Sons, 35
„ Joseph, M.P., 271
„ J. H., 145
Humphreys, Geo., 175
Hunt, R. T.. SO
„ Hy., 194, 274. 312
Hunter, Thos., 137
Hunter's Lane, 128
Huntingdon, Rev. W., 120
Huskisson, 230
Hyde,Jas., 103
Ince, John, 132
Independent Chapels, 10, 128
India Rubber Goods, 318, 321
Infirmary, 9, 247
„ Baths. 9, 249
Ingham & Westmacott, 61
Inglescent, Tom, 299
Insecurity of Roads, 18
Inspectors of White Meats, 240
Digitized by
Google
INDEX.
345
Institutions, Charitable, 247
Institution, Mechanics', 265, 270
„ New, 270
Royal, 269
Instrumentalists, Musical Fest, 300
Inventions, Scientific, 319
Ireland, Alex. & Co., 289
yw. The, 281
Irwell, 14
„ Street Chapel, 157
Isherwobd, 297
Ivanoff, 300
Tack, Rev. Dr., 188
Jackson, Rev. E. Dudley, 126, 333
„ Thomas, 151
„ E. & J., 20
„ Stenway, 143
„ Watson, & Greg, 37
Jackson's Lane, 12
„ „ Chapel, 144
Jacobin Mob, 171
ames, Rev. John, 215
i> I) J. A., 140
{arrold. Dr., 49, 136
ay. Rev. William, 140
Jennison, 308
Jesse, John, 54
Jewish Immigrants, 191
„ Synagogue, 191
Jovsbury & Whitlow, 6, 64, 65
„ Miss G., 65, 333
„ M. J., 65, 134
Joachim, Herr, 298
John Dalton Street, 12
Johns, Rev. William, 107, 263
Johnson, Ann, 225
,, Fynney, 160
,, James, 198
„ Rev. John, 257
„ ,, William, 124
„ Richard, 198
,, Sam, 88
„ William, 258
„ William, 186
„ W. R., 155, 165
Johnson & Rawson, 80
Jollie, Rev. Timothy, 171
«* Jolly Carters," 309
Jones, Charles, 204
„ Paul, 157
,, Samuel, 174, 179
„ W. H., 89
„ Rev. William, 157
Jordan, Joseph, 50, 268
„ Mrs., 75
Joule, Benjamin, and Family, 99,
133.254
Jubilee (George III.), 257
Kay, Alex., 173, 198
„ Dr. J. P., 55, 136
„ John Robinson, I
„ Samuel, 173
„ Thomas, i
„ & Darbyshire, 200
Kean (Elder), 222
Keeling, Rev. William, 121
Keighley, 271
Kelly, David, 88, 332
Kemble, Charles, 75, 313
„ John, 156
Kennedy, John, 175
„ Rev. — , 134
Kenworthy & Co., 223
„ Peter, 150
Kenyon, Lord, 255
Kersall Moor, 308
Kershaw, James, M.P., 9, 17, 133,
139
„ Thomas, 279
Kidd, Rev. W., 126, 333
Kidson, Joseph, 7
Kinchin, Ch., 147
King, Aid., 183
,, John, loi, 184
„ Street, 13
„ „ Lower, 12
King's Birthday, 220
Kirkpatrick, Rev. Cleland, 157
Knowles, John, 4, 211
„ Thomas, 203
Knutsford, 261
Knyvett, Mrs., 300
Lablache, 300^ 302, 304
Labreys, The, 94, 185, 236
Lacey, Hy. Ch., 2, 210, 240, 241
Digitized by
Google
346 INDEX.
Lacye, Sir John, 275
Ladies' Dress, 318
Lamb, Tames, 137, 139
„ W. H., 60
„ Imi, 292
Lamp Committee, 236
Lancaster, 2S4, 28^
„ John, 96
Land, Price of, 68
Lane (Architect), 182
„ Hunters, 128
Lathom, John, 136
Lavender, Stephen, 237, 240
Law, John, 7, 2C», 329
Lawyers, 19$
Lee, Daniel, h Co., 1 1, 19
„ John, 259
,. W.&R., 131
„ Street Chapel, 146
Leech, James, 243
Lees, Jonathan, 132
Leese, Joseph, 17
„ Kershaw, & Callender, 17
Legal Hundred, 159
Legh, of Lyme, 34
L'Hirondelle Coach, 218
Leigh, John, 81, 281
„ Silas, 180
Leresche, Mrs., 74, 282
Lessey, John, 66
„ Rev. Theoph. , 68
Letter Carriers, 204
Letters, Double, 206
, , Delivery of, 207
Lewis, Edward, 133
Liberals, Manchester, no, 279
Libraries, Public, 273
Library, Free, 113
Liefchild, Rev. Dr.., 140
" Light of other Days," 302
Light, Striking a, 320
Lignum, Dr., 57, 254
Lindley, William, 301, 304
Lingani, Rev. Joshua, 127
Literary and Philosophical Society,
48, 173, 260
Liverpool Coaches, 214
Livingstone, 132
Lloyd, Ed. Jeremiah, 195, 269
„ George, 279
„ Rev. E. B., 2x5
„ Street Chapel, 188
Lock Hospital, 252
Loftus, Sarah, 250
Logerian System of Music, 103
Lomas, Rev. John, 152
„ Jna and Geo., 165
Lomax, 275
London^ Bishop of, 311
Longevity, 8, 120
Lord, Rev. Wm., 254
Lovatt, 3
Love and Barton, 85
„ Benj., 85
Loyd, Rev. Lewis, 178
„ Ed., 256, 266
Lubbock, Sir John, 123
Lucifer Matches, 320
Lunatic Asylum, 248
Lying-in Hospital, 250
Lynch, Daniel, 6, 60, 249
Lyndhurst, Lord, 96
Lyons, Dr., 49, 249
M'AU, Rev. R. S., 10, 11, 134, 136.
254
„ „ Death of, 141
„ „ and Long Sermons,
141, 143
M*Connell, Henry and John, 175
Macardy, Joseph, 281
Macfadyen, Rev. J. A., 131
Machin, 300
Mackie, I vie, 173
Mackintosh Garments, 321
Maclure, 18, 145, 164, 254, 266
Macready, 7S» 312
Mad Tom, 304
Maddocks, Rev — ., 189
Maden, Mrs., 56
Magistrates, 196, 240
MaU, The, 280
Mail Coaches, 211, 212
Mails, English and Foreign, 207
Makinson, Johni 198
Malbon, 261
Digitized by
Google
INDEX.
347
Malibran, 300
" Martyr of Antioch," 298
Death of, 303
Mason, John, 166
Malloiy, Rev.J.H.,117
Massey, James, 260
„ Joseph, 247, 248
Malones, The, 298
Manchester Negatively, 113
Matches, 320
„ Academy, 261
Matlcy, S., & Son, 40
„ First ElecUon, 122
Maude, Fr., 273
„ Chrtmkle, 278
May Day and Coaches, 220
Courier, 277, 281, 290
, , Examiner 6f* Timer, 289
Meanley, Rev. — , 178
Mechanics' Institution, 265, 270
„ GuardiaH,277,2S2,2S6,
Medical Institutions, 247
291
Meeting House, Friends', 181
Melland, 143
yournai, 278
„ Magasine^ 278, 281
Mellor, 29a
Times, 287, 288, 289
Mendel, Emmanuel, 4, 191, 236
„ „ and Gaaeite, 288
Mercantile Gazette, 280
„ and Salford Advertiser,
74, 282
Mercury, The, 277, 279
Meredith, Charles, 93
Manor Court Room, 7, 274
Merone, Joseph, 97
„ of Manchester, 275
Merrick, Josiah, 185
Merry, Thomas, 258
Map of Manchester, 272
Marcet, Mrs., 314
"Messiah," Handel's, 301, 304
*»Marienboum" (Tune), 155
Methodism, Origin of, 147
Markets, 273
„ and the Theatre, 31 x
Market, Com, 274
Methodist, First Preaching-room,
„ Cross Lane, 273
148
„ Fish, 274
Methodist, First Society, 148
„ Hay, 274
Middleton, Robert, 64
„ Lookers, 240
Midwood, Joseph, 137
„ Manchester (1829), I
M*Kerrow, Dr., 188, 189
„ Potato, 274
M*Keand, 309
„ Smithfield, 273
Miller, Horatio, 30, 72, 73, 76, 92,
„ Smithy Door, 274
297, 299» 304, 313, 323» 324
„ Street, 2
„ Rev. \Vm. Ed., 152
„ „ Improvement, S
Millwaid, 155
„ Tolls, 274
Milnes, The, 196, 197
Marris, Son, & Jackson, 20
Mise Layers, 240
„ J, M., 266
„ Francis, 164, 165
Mitchell, Dr., 47» 49. 249
Mitre Hotel, 14, 268
Marsden Square, 19
„ John, 165
„ Rev. Geo., 122, 151, 164
Mob, Church and King, 1 10, 280
Moffatt, Rev. Robert, 132
Molineaux, James, 250
„ „ Wm.,i22
Monton Chapel, 179
Marsland John, 166
„ Joseph, 74
Moore. 314
„ John, 266
„ Henry and Samuel, 173
Mordacque, M., 102
Martindale, Rev. Miles, 151
Mori,' 301
Martineai^ Miss, 314
Morris, 5
Digitized by
Google
348
INDEX.
Morris, Alex., 185
„ Tames, 154
„ John, 159, 269
„ Wm., 102
Mosley Arms, 7
„ Street, 9, 10
„ „ Independent Chapel,
10, 135
„ „ Unitarian Chapel, 10,
„ John, 150
„ Sir Oswald, 266, 269, 272,
275
„ Sir N., 275
Moss Side, 12
„ Fletcher, 95
„ Joseph, 259
Mottershead, John, 62
„ Rev. Joseph, 62, 171
„ & Brown, 62, 254
Mountcastle, 6
Mowbray, 266
Mozart's ** Requiem," 300
Mulberry Street, 38
Mullis, Wm., 257
Murdoch, 242
Murphy, P. J., 259
Murray, 150
Music, 297, 308
„ Halls, 308
„ Sacred, 190
Musical Festival, 298, 300, 306
Nadin, Toe, 86, 237
„ T.&J.,I96
Napier, John, 164, 165, 168
Nash, Ishmael, 184
Natural History Society, 266, 269
Neckties, 24,317
Needham, J. C, 49» I04
„ Robt, 104
Neild, Aid., 184, 236
„ Hy., i8j
„ Isaac, 185
Nelson, Lord, The, 217
Neruda, N., 298
Newall, Wm., 3, 96, 136, 254
Newall*s Buildings, 3
New Brown Street, 5, 21
Newcome, Rev. Hy., 128, 170
Newspapers, 276
,, London, 204
„ and Post Office, 204
Tax on, 277
Newton, Rev. John, 129
„ „ Robert, 151,155,160
" Nicholas Nickleby," 36
Nicholb Humphrey, 118
Nicholson, 301
Nield, Henry, 250
Nodal, James, Aaron, & John, 185
Norris, 133
„ James, 195
Northern Express, 281
Northumbrian Engine, 229
Norwich Union Office, 7
Nos worthy, Frederick, 183
Notable Persons, 105
Noton, T. S., 240
Novello, Clara, 300
Numbering of Streets, 2
Nunn, Rev. William, 123, 254
Nuttall, John, 225
Observer, The, 86, 281
O'Connor, 312
Odd Fellows' Society, 258
Oddie, James, 150
Officers, Municipal, 240, 241
Officials, Curious, 235
„ Police, 238
Ogden, Robert, 9
Old Bridge, 14
„ Church, 116, 300
„ Coachman, 216
„ Meal House, 292
„ Quay Company, 40
Oldfield Lane Doctor, 55
Oldfidd Ben, 313
Oldham, Adam, 149
„ Street Chapel, 121, 136,
150. 155
„ Street Chapel Orchestra,
Olivant, 254
Oliver, 150
Digitized by
Google
INDEX.
349
Opposition Coachesi 216
** Original, The," III
Otley, 286
Overstone, Lord, 174, 179
Owen, Rev. Henry, 122
„ John, 200, 266
„ Mrs., 256
Owens, John, 141, 142, 174
Oxford Road, 10, 1 1
„ „ Chapel, 166
Paganini, 298
„ Tavern, 299
Palace Inn, 4 *
Palmer, John, 190
„ Thomas, 102
Paris, Prosper, 102
Parish Clerk, 118
Parker Street, 10
Parkinson, Alex., 293
„ Rev. Dr., 127
Parks, Public, 1x3
Parliament Street, 1 2
Parry, James, 39
„ Jno, 143
„ Thomas, 118
Parsons, Rev. James, 140
Passage Boats, 223
Patrick, James. 89
Patriot, The, 281
Paulton, Abraham Walter, 289
Paving Committee, 236
Peacock, H. B., 72, 289, 290
„ Geoi^e, 159
„ Michael, 254
„ Richard, 178
„ Coach Office, 4, 211
Pearson, Benjamin, 184
Pedley, Rev. James, 121
Peduzzi, Antony and James, 97, 9
Peel, Sir Robert, 32, 37
„ Yates, & Co., 32
„ Williams, & Peel, 102
„ Park, 103
Peers Act, 126, 127
„ Warehouse, 33
Penketh's 'Bus, 108
Percival, Dr., 260
Perkins, Geo., 10 1
„ John, 258
Perth, Duke of, 274
Peter Street, 10, 11
Peterloo Meeting, 286
" Peveril of Peak," 213, 216
Pharmacopoeia, 57
Philanthropic Society, 256
Philips, J. and N. & Co., 22
„ Mark, M.P., 22, 180, 236
„ Robert, 180
„ R. N., M.P., 173, 180
Phillips, Aldcroft, 200
„ George, 272, 279, 300, 302
„ Francis, 269
„ and Lee, 242
Photography, 321
Physicians, 47
„ to Infirmary, 249
Piccadilly, 8
Piccope,Rev. J., 119
Pickford's, 10, 223, 226
„ Van Office, 19
Pigot, James, 79, 236
Pilkington, George, 99, 100
Pipe, Rev. John, 151
Pitt, J. W., 102
Places of Worship, 115
Plate Glass Windows, 6
Piatt, 301
„ Chapel, 176
Pochin^332
Police Commissioners, 236
„ Court, 113
„ Districts, 235
Pollard, Wm., 154
Pool Fold, 5
Pope, Henry, 137
„ Samuel, Q.C., 137
Porter, S. T., 133
Portico, 10. 177, 273, 305
Portland Place, 8
„ Street, 10
Post Office, 202, 203, 204, 205, 330
I, Old, 108
n and Newspapers, 204
Postage, Penny, 208
Posting, 221
Digitized by
Google
350
INDEX.
Potato Famine, 190
Ramsbottom, 109
„ Market, 274
Ramsden, Fredk., 24
Pot Shrigley, 34
Ramsey, Charles, 37
Potter, C. & E., 35, 175
„ Joseph, 137
Randall, Rev. M., 117
Potter, Richard, 1 1, 20, 134, 173, 266
„ Sirjohn, 20, 173
Ransome, J. A„ 51, 184, 231, 249,
„ Thos., 20, 173, 179, 271
266, 268, 269
„ (Solicitor), 199
Ran.some & Co., 65
„ & Richd., 20, 254
Rawson, Benjamin, 70
„ T. B., 20, 173
Potters & Norris, 20
„ Henry, 289
„ Jonathan, 292
Pounder, 241
Rea, Joshua, 165
Powers, John, 132
Powell, Robt., 132
Recorier, The, 281
Redfem, James, 15S
Pownall, John, 4
Red Lion, 292
Pratt, Joseph, 89, 281
„ Rover, 4, 71, 213
Prentice, Archibald, 287, 288, 290
Refreshment Stall, Anti-Com-Law
Presbyterian Chapel, 188
Bazaar, 314
Prescott, John, 279
Reform Bill, 222
Prescotfs Journal, 278
Preston, Geo., 311
Regent Road Toll Bar, 15
Reid, William, 293
Pretty, 212
Reiss, Leopold, 175
Religious Tract Society, 84, 2SS
Price, Bulkeley, 231
„ Murder of, 19
Renn & Boston, 102
Priddie, Rev. James, 145
Restaurant, Bee Hive, 83
Priestley, 129
Prince Charles, 5, 278
Rexford, Dolly, 112
Reynolds, Charles, 204
„ Samuel, 2, 96, 255
Richardson, Joe, 1 1 1
„ Joseph, 102
Princess Victoria, 304
Pringle, Sir John, 262
„ John, 87
Prints, Duty on, 27
Printed Velvete, 37
„ & Roebuck, 96
Richmond, T. G., 323, 324
Procter, Daniel, 137
Rickards, 284
" Prophet, Veiled," 282
Ridehalgh, Mrs.,57
Rider, C, 236, 255
Quaife, Rev. Barzillai, 137
Rigg, Rev. Dr., 152
Quakers* Chapel, 53, 181
Quarter Sessions, 284
„ „ John, 151
Rimmington, Rev. Richard, 117
Ring 0' Bells, 14
Queen's Visit, 103
Queues, 13, 317
Riots, 34, 237
„ Bread, 95
Races, 308, 310
Rippon, C. W„ 151
Radford, Dr., 49, 251, 264, 268, 323
Robberds, Rev. J. G., 172
Raffles, Rev. Dr., 140, 141
Roberton, John, 50, 136
Railway Carriages, 234
Roberts, Ben, 53
„ John, 8, 53, 81, IS4, 158
„ Richard, 136
„ Fumess, 105
„ M. and L., Opening, 227
Raleigh, 184
„ Thomas, 62, 137
Digitized by
Google
INDEX.
35^
Roberts, Dale & Co., 63, 68
Robins, Mills, & Co., 223
Robinson, George, 1S4
„ John (Accountant), 185
„ „ (Draper), 185
„ Robert, 87
„ Thomas, 173
„ & Ellis, 285
Roby, Rev. Wm., 130, 131, 255
„ „ „ Death, 134
Rogers, 314
Rogerson, Thos., 281
Roman Catholic Chapels, 189
Ronchetti, Toshua, 95
„ Miss, 333
Rookes, The, 184
Rose, Micah, 154
Rothschild, 191
Rothsay Castle, 225
Rothwell, 185
Rowarth, Thomas, 8$. 333
Rowbotham, J. F., 168
Royal Hotel, 2, 267
„ „ Coach Office, 211
„ Institution, 10, 269
Royle, John, 82
Ruffles, 317
Rules of Building Society, 293-296
Rumney, Alderman, 133
Rusholme Road Chapel, 143
Russell, 84, 168, 290
Rutter, J. S., 196
Rylands, John, 22, 285
,, and Sons, 23
Rymer, 133
Salisbury, Marquis of, 231
Salutation Tavern, 292
Samaritan Society, 256
Sandal Shoes, 319
Sandbach, Danie^ 162
„ John, 166
Sergeant, Rev. Osw., 127
n Milne & Co., 196
Sargent, Rev. Geo., 215
Satterfield&Co.,9i
Satterthwaite, S. & M., 184, 185
Saturday Half Holiday, 46, 1 13, 308
Saul, Edward, 74
Savings Bank, 19
Scarlett, 284
Scarr, R., 25s
Scarr, Petty, and Swain, loi
Scavingers, 241
Schofield & Tumbull, 278
„ Rev. James, 55, 193
Scholes, Tetlow, & Co., 20
School, Blue Coat, 257
„ Catholic, 259
„ Collegiate Church Charity,
258
„ Deaf and Dumb, 258
, , Friends' Female, 259
„ Grammar, 257
„ Granby Row, 258
,, Ladies* Jubilee, 257
„ Lancasterian, 258
„ of Medicine, 268
„ National, 258
„ New Jerusalem, 258
„ St John's, 259
„ St. Mark's, 259
,, Unitarian, 259
,, Workhouse, 259
Schuster, Leo, 10, 175
Scientific Inventions, 319, 321
Scott, Jerry, 214
„ Joe, 44
Searchers of Leather, 241
Secession, Quakers', 186
Seddon, tii
Seddon, Rev. — ,171
Sedgwick & Co., 155
Sedgwick's Court, 77
Sever, Charles, 89
Severn Warehouse, 224
Sewell, 162
"Shakespeare's Head," 278
Shambles, 7, 12, 274
Sharp, 303
„ Alderman, 137
Sharpe, Roberts, & Co., 93
Shaw, Mrs., 300
„ Rev. E. B., 126
Shaw's, John, 14, 267
Shaving, 316
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352 INDEX,
Sheldon, Stephen & Hugh, 133
Sheldrick, 298
Sherwood, Rev. Joseph, 1S9
Shim well, Isaac, 133
„ Thomas, 137
Shirt Ruffles, 317
Shude Hill Pits, 163
Shuttleworth-Kay, Sir J., 136
U., 55
Shuttleworth, John, 174
Sidebotham, 133, 139
Sigley, 64
Silkstone, Wm., t66
Simmons, W. , 249
Simms, Geo., 88
Simon, Rev. Ed., 144
Simpson, Geo., 185
„ L.1 65
Slaggs, The, 21, 333
Slater, 196
Sloane, Tno., 311
Slugg, Rev. Thos., 159, 164
Smart, Sir Geo., 301
Smith, Hill, & Co., 92
,, Charles, 255
„ Rev. Dr., 118, 122, 257
„ „ Joseph, 132, 134
„ „ John, 190
„ T.B., M.P.. 173
„ Dr. Pye, 314
Smithfield Market, 273
Smithson, Rev. J. H., 194
Smithy Door, 13, 274
Smock Frocks, 225
Smoking, 319
Snell, Bryce, & Co., 223
Smyth, Rev. Edward, 123, 124
Soci
iety, Agricultural, 267
Bible, 253
Botanical, 266
Building, 292
Christian Knowledge, 255
Commercial Clerks, 257
Female Servants, 256
Floral & Horticultural, 267
of Friends, 283
Humane, 256 [260
Literary and Philosophical,
Society, Natural History, 265, 269
„ Philanthropic, 256
„ Prosecution of Felons, 267
„ Samaritan, 256 .
„ Stranger's Friend, 256
„ Tract, 255
Soda Water, 71
Soldiers, Accident to, 15
Solomon's Balm of Gilead, 280
Solicitors, 195
Somerset Street, 22
Southam, Geo., 96
Southport Coach, 220
Sowler, Thomas, 84, 241, 285, 290,
„ and Russell, 290 [291
Spectator^ The 281
Spectroscope, 322
Spread Eagle, 274
Squance, Rev. T., 159
St. Andrew's Lane, 130
St. Ann's Street, 13
St. Mary's Hospital, 250
St. Mary's Church Spire, 119
St. Peter's Field, 1 1
Stage Coaches, 209
Staines, Thomas, 62
„ and Mottershead, 62
Stamford and Warrington, Earl of,
266
Stand Chapel, 180
Stanway, T. H., 266
Star Coach Office, 12
„ Yard, 12
Sutions, Wayside, 233
Stead, Rev. Abraham, 152
Steamships, 322
Steemson, Mrs. S., 266
Stephens, Rev. John, 151, 164
„ W.R., 151
Stevenson, Isaac, 184
Stevens, Rev. W., 187
Stoby, William, loi
Stocks, John, 69
„ & Dentith, 64, 70
„ Samuel, 155, 165
Stockdale versus Hansard, 26
Storey, John, 186
Stowell, Rev. Hugh, 124, 255
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INDEX.
353
Strangeways, 14
Stretford Koad, 12, 15
Stretdes, Rev. T. B., 193
Strines Printing Co., 38
Strutt, W. &J., 174
Stubbs, J. S., loi
Sudlow, William, 103
SufHeld, 266
Sumner, Dr. J. B., 117
„ Rev. John, 167
„ Thomas, 204
Sun Fire Office, 19
Sunday School, First, 96
,, ,, in Whit-week, 308
„ ,, Scholars in Peel
Park, 103
Sui^eons, 47
Swan Coach Office, 4. 210
„ Street Chapel, 163
Swain, Charles, 73, 87
„ and Dewhurst, 87
Swearing, 319
Swedenborg, 192
Swell Mob, 301
Swindells, John, 89
,, Thomas, 155
Syddall, Thomas, 171
Synagogue, 191
Talbot Inn, 7^
Tattersall's Bowling Green, 263
Taylor (Coachman), 217
& Gamett, 5, 283
Rev. George, 145
John, 283
John J., 10, 175, 262
James, 178
Edward, 55
John, 186
John Ed., 173, 186, 236, 283
„ „ Lawsuit, 284
Peter, 184
Thos. n.,62
W-illiam, 293
Tax on .Newspapers, 277
Telegraph, 280, 321
Temperance Building Society, 293
Thatched House Tavern, 268
K>ev. u(
M Jo
» Jo
'» J^
Theatre, First, 310
„ Minor, 311
„ Royal, 11,298,300,305,
Thistlewaite, John, 185
„ Rev. Wm., 254
Thistlewood, 236
Thomas, J. S., 237, 301
Thomason, Nicholas, 251
Thompstone, — ,71
Thompson, Aid. Joseph, 141, 142
E., 25s
Geo., 183
„ Jas. (spinner), 185
„ Joseph, senr., 139, 144
,, M'Kay & Co., 224
Thompson's, Jas., Wedding, 144
,, Boarding House, 1 10
Thomson, — , 268
„ Eb. & Sons, 78
„ Jas. & Jos., 79
Thomley Brow, 128
Thorpe, Jno. & Robt., 51, 249
„ Ellen and Anne, 69
,, Issachar, 69
Tickets, Railway, 233
TimeSf London, 288
„ Manchester, 277, 287, 289
Tinder Box, 320
Tinker's Gardens, 307
Tippoo Sahib's violin, 152
Tobacco, Use of, 319
Tobacconists, 3
Toll Bars, 15
„ Lane, 13
Tonics, Use of, 58
Touchet,J., 173
Town Clerk, 113
„ Government, 235
Townend, Thomas, 165
„ William, 269
Townley, Rev. J., 159
Townsend, James, 66
Townsman, The 280
Traffi)rd, T. J., 266
Trains, Liverpool, 232
Trapps, Rev. M., 190
Trousers, 317
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354
Trueman's Warehouse, io8
Tudor, Elizabeth, 259
Turner, R., Junr., & Co., 33
„ Thomas, 8, 4S, 52, 258,
264, 266, 268
Turner, Rev. W., 172
„ Wm., 34, 270
„ W. A., 173
Turner's, Miss, Abduction, 34
Twiss* Mill, 238
Unicom Inn, 14, 267
Union Inn, 293
Unitarian Chapels, 10, 170
Ullite, Constable, 280
Upcraft, Rev. Thomas, 187
Various Chapels, 181
Varley, lOO
„ Edward, tot
Vaughan, George, 64
' „ William, 258
Velvets, Printed, 37
Vembcrgue, Eugene, 103
Victoria, Princess, 304
„ Street and Bridge, 13
" Victory " Coach, 219
*« Voice of the People," The, 282
Wadkin, l8s, 255
Wagons, 225
Wakefield, Rev. Gilbert, 260
„ Edward Gibbon, 34
Walker, C.J. S., 110,317
„ John, 19s
,, Thomas, iio, 279, 280
Warburton, 136
Ward, Dr., 47, 49
„ Joseph, 145
„ Miss, 54
„ and Andrews, 103
Wardle, Mark, 89
Warehouses, Manchester, 16
Warhurst, Rev. C, 128, 129
Warre, Thomas de la, 116
Warren, Dr., 262
„ Richard, 237
„ Samuel and Edward, 3, 70
INDEX.
Warren, Rev. Dr., 3, 70, 96
"Warrington" (Tune), 179
Watch Committee, 236
Watchmen, 239
Water, 244
Waterhouse, Henry, 143, 185
Waterworks, 7,244
Watkins, Alderman, 43
„ Abs., 20, 174
„ Sir Edward, 20
Watkinson, Henry, 64
Watmough, 216, 218
Watson, Bishop, 260
„ Jemmy, 280
„ Peter, 236
„ Rev. R., 164, 167
Watts, Alaric A., 291
„ S.&J., 21, 130
Waybills, 214
Weatherald, Webster, & Co., 4, 210
Weatherley, 4, 80
Webb & Simms, 88
Wesley, Chas., 148
» John, S3, 147. 150. 182
„ ,, on Bonnets, 318
Wesleyan Tract Society, 255
,, Missionary Society, 136
„ Chapels, 147
Westhead, Edward, 18, 165
„ Jno., 165
„ J. Procter, 18
Westmacott, 61
Wetherell, Sir Charles, 97
Whaite, Henry, 93
Whalley, Stephen, 28t
Whatton, 231
Wheeler, Chas. ^ John, 282, 286
„ Serjeant, 282
Wheelton, 25, 26
„ Brewer, k Buckland, 25
White Bear, 313
White, Charles, 247, 260
,, Henry Kirke, 124
„ Ned, 217
,, Rev. Jas., 124
„ Wm., 185, 231
Whitehead, John & Sons, 39
„ Messrs., 238
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INDEX. 355
Whitehead, Rev. — , 178
Wood, John, 164
„ Kinder, 268
"Whitehead, The " (vessel), 40
Whiteleg^, Rev. Wm., 177, 178,
„ George William, 106, 175,
273
243, 262, 269, 272
Whitelock,Rev.R. H., 123, 202, 226
„ Rev. Robert, 157, 199
Whitworth, Doctors, 56
Sir Joseph, 137
„ Rose, 200
„ WiUiam, 323
Whitworth's Manchester Gazette^ 278
„ & Wales, 17
Wholesale Firms, 17
„ & Westhead, 17, 255
Whyatt, George, 267
„ & Wright, 136
Wigan, Rev. J., 128
Wilkins, Charles, 73
Woodall, R., 69
Woodhead, Godfrey, 185
Wilkinson, James, 155
„ Thomas, 89, 281
Woodward, WiUiam, 136
WooUey, James, 67
„ Mrs. Thomas, 314
Wm., 301
Willat, 202
„ WiUiam, 267
Wiliert, 303
Wordsworth, Rev. W., 118
Williams, Lewis, 133
Worrall, John, 267
Williamson Professor, 199
Worship, Places of, 115
S., 273
Willis, William, 88
Worsley, 177
Worthington, — , 302
Willman, 301
„ Rev. J., 172
WiUock, R. P., 203
„ H. T., 250
Wilson, Edward, 204
„ John, 186.
„ Thomas, 10, 18
„ George, 29, 109
,, Sam., 132
Wotton, PhUip, 119
„ WiUiam, 70
Wray, Rev. C. D., 117, 118
„ W.T.,49, 5Ji»249
Wilton, Earl of, 230, 255, 266, 310
Wright & Lee, 19
„ Ralph, 196
Wimpory, Jonathan, loi
Windmill Tavern, 99
„ Thomas P. P., 133
Wroe, James, ^, 281
Windows, Plate Glass, 6
Wylde, 76
Windsor, John, 49, 51, 184, 186
„ Bridge Chapel, 145
Yates, Mrs., 13
Winter, Gilbert, 236
„ Thomas, 13, 240, 317
„ Dr., 145
Young, Chas. Murdo, 222, 276
Wintringham, Sir Charles, 262
Wood, Baron, 284
Young Men's Mutual Improvement
Society, 139
„ Bateson, 151, 199
„ Charles, 199
Zanetti, Vincent, & Vittore, 97
„ James, ii, 18, 165, 166
„ Rev. James, 151, 199
„ & Agnew, 97
Zoological Gardens, 307, 308
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JAMES F. WILKINSON, PRINTER, THE GUTTBNBBRG WORKS, TENDLETOK ]
AND AT 34, OXFORD STREET, MANCHESTER.
3-
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MAY 1 1945
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